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Why carpool?

Save money

For individual drivers: Driving is expensive. The Canadian Automobile Association estimates that a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier LS four door sedan driven 18,000 km per year costs an average $6262 to own plus $2205 to operate (not including tolls and parking), or $8467 annually. By carpooling, you can cut your operating costs from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and save a bundle.

For institutions: Companies and other organizations can reduce parking-related infrastructure, maintenance, and leasing costs. Governments can delay road infrastructure costs through more efficient use of existing resources.

Save the environment

The everyday actions of Canadians produce more than one-quarter of our country's total greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation accounts for half of individual greenhouse gas emissions.

The type of vehicle and the number of kilometres that an individual drives can have a huge impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

Carpooling is a relatively easy and cost-effective way for individuals and institutions to reduce their impact on the environment and become "Kyoto-compliant".

In preparation for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and as part of it's Climate Change Plan released in November 2002, the Canadian Government is asking Canadians to:

• Use the car less - Driving 10 percent less, by walking, cycling, carpooling, or taking public transit, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.2 to 0.8 tonnes per year, depending on the vehicle. An even more startling fact: If you drive a 2000 Chevy Cavalier 15 km (roughly the round trip distance from Empire Cinemas Mount Pearl to the Health Sciences Centre) each day for 6 days a week, you are producing 5.503 tonnes of green house gases. 
• Buy a fuel-efficient vehicle - A 25 percent more fuel-efficient vehicle could reduce emissions by more than one tonne per year and save $360 on an average annual gasoline bill of $1,440. 
• Use ethanol blend gasoline - Current vehicles can use up to 10 percent ethanol blended gasoline without any adjustment to or effect on the engine.
• Reduce idling - If all Canadians avoided idling their vehicles for just five minutes a day, all year, more than 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, along with other toxic substances, would not enter the air.

Reduce stress

For some, driving is quite stressful. St. John’s weather conditions often aggravate the situation and so can a long day at school/work.

Others don’t mind the drive and enjoy having company in their car. Why not match and give someone a stress-free drive while they provide company?

Also, for those who don’t have cars and campus parking permits, this is a way to still get a ride to and from the university without worrying about covering the operating costs of a vehicles and if you're a student, having to be in the parking permit lottery.

For your health

Air pollution has become notorious for it's impacts on both human health and the natural environment. Every year up to 16,000 Canadians die prematurely from air pollution, according to Health Canada.

Transportation is a big part of this problem. Research indicates that the increase in hospital admissions for children with asthma in recent years is directly related to worsening air pollution. Hospitalization of young boys in Canada increased by 28 percent and for girls 18 percent between 1981 and 1990.

The health effects of fine particulate matter include respiratory illness, decreased lung function, premature mortality and exacerbation of asthma conditions. Some areas of Ontario are subject to high-level ozone episodes over 30 days per year.(See note 1 below)

The Ontario Government will spend over $1 billion on health care directly related to air pollution problems. Ground level ozone (produced by NOx and VOCs in the presence of sunlight) is directly responsible for 14 per cent of respiratory related hospital admissions in infants (Note 2).

The chart below describes the effects of some of the worst air pollutants produced by the transportation sector (Note 3). It has been noted that the health effects of these pollutants are especially dangerous to young children and the elderly.

1. David Suzuki Foundation, 1998. Taking Our Breath Away: The Health Effects of Air Pollution and Climate Change.

2. David Suzuki Foundation, 1998. Taking Our Breath Away: The Health Effects of Air Pollution and Climate Change.

3. Environment , 2000. "Automobile Emissions, Individual Health, and the Environment". Exhaustion: A Guide to Transportation Emissions. Fact Sheet No. 2-6.