Ali Brown juggles a home in Portland, a job in Forest Grove and graduate school that takes her to Bainbridge Graduate School, near Seattle, once a month.
When Ali bought a house in Northeast Portland last year, many people thought she was crazy because her job is in Forest Grove at Adelante Mujeres, a non-profit that helps empower Latino women and families. No sweat. Ali makes it work, thanks to carpooling.
Ali has carpooled since she started at Adelante Mujeres four years ago. In that time, she's had eight different carpool-mates, as she calls them. Sometimes those mates are coworkers. Other times, people from Pacific University, Montinore Vineyards and Via Systems joined the ride by matching with Ali through the regional ride-matching tool, Drive Less Connect, which was formerly called Carpool Match NW.
At its height, Ali's carpool had six people on a given day. At its lowest, it's just Ali and one other person. It's still worth it for her because she gets to avoid the stress of being the driver every day.
Ali's route from Portland to Forest Grove takes her along U.S. 26. The drive to work normally takes about 45 minutes. The drive home is a different story. On a crowded U.S. 26, it takes between an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes to get home. Shouldering the driver duties each day for that commute would be stressful!
So what do they do during that carpooling time? They talk, listen to a book on tape or just enjoy each other's company.
Besides escaping the stress of always being the driver, Ali also enjoys the savings. When Ali drives, she pays for the gas, but on the days other carpool-mates are behind the wheel, they pick up the tab. If someone doesn't have a car, they chip in for the gas or bring tasty treats for the carpool.
Ali's secret to ridesharing success? Don't do it every day. Whether you're new in town and considering carpooling to get around, or you're tired of paying so much for gas, Ali believes a daily commitment can be a deterrent to keep you from trying carpooling at all.
"Don't stress about it," says Ali. If she had felt like she must carpool each and every day, Ali believes she would have stopped years ago.
Ali is able to telecommute on Fridays, and days when she needs a little more sleep, she goes it alone. With all Ali's juggling right now, she's down to carpooling about a third of a time. When life calms down, she expects to carpool more because ridesharing to work or carpooling once a month to the Seattle area lets her sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.