• Every carpool takes a few of these cars off the road.major traffic jam 2 image by Aaron Kohr from Fotolia.com
  
  Commuting by car can be a drag. Costs for gas, insurance, and maintenance add up quickly. Traffic is often a mess, and being stuck behind the wheel prevents you from getting any work done. In car-centric North America, public transportation is often not a viable option. More and more people are escaping this trap by carpooling, which offers many advantages to the traveler and the planet.
  
  

Lower Bills

• Carpooling can cut commuting costs by 50 percent. With four people in a car, everyone only pays a quarter of the gas bill they would pay if they commuted alone. Since each car is used less, maintenance costs are lower. Carpooling to work can eliminate the need for a second family car, saving even more. Carpooling also means fewer vehicles on the road, which lowers maintenance costs. Since these come from tax revenues, more carpooling saves every taxpayer's money.
  
  

Environmental Benefits

• Cars produce pollution and greenhouse gases. Pollutants like sulphur stick close to the Earth, causing clouds of smog, damaged buildings, and sickened animals. Greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, which is damaging lives and disrupting weather all around the world. Since carpooling allows the same number of people to be carried in fewer vehicles, it helps reduce pollution.
  
  

Health Benefits

• Many pollutants from cars harm human health. Asthma, emphysema, heart disease, allergies, and neurological problems have all been linked to tailpipe emissions. Pollution aside, driving is often stressful, especially on crowded roads. Stress can aggravate many other health problems. By carpooling, drivers can reduce both the pollutant and stress-related health impacts of using a car.
  
  

Relationship Building

• Carpooling lets drivers make friends and build relationships with colleagues. Since many carpools take multiple employees from the same company, or same sector, it can be a chance to meet people from other places in an organization.
  
  

Increased Productivity

• Since only one person needs to drive each day, the other passengers can get some work done while on their commute. Getting stuck in a traffic jam isn't quite as bad with a laptop and a cell phone. Arriving at work relaxed instead of frustrated can also make for more productive workdays.
  
  

Flexibility

• Carpools are informal, non-contractual relationships, which means they are flexible; there is no penalty for leaving them, and many workers arrange to carpool only on certain days of the week or when working at certain locations. They also offer more flexibility in scheduling than public transit, which has fixed timetables and routes.