Rochester, N.Y. - Parking spaces are hard to come by at the University of Rochester. A spot can cost hundreds of dollars a year. But the college gives Irondequoit residents Darlene Horton and June Gehr a huge discount because they carpool.
“I drive one week and she drives another week,” Horton said.
“I enjoy driving with Darlene. It's nice to have someone to drive into work with,” Gehr said.
The U of R matches up potential carpoolers. Jessica DeBolt and Jayne Kresinki found each other. They live in Livonia. Kresinki’s husband drops them off and goes to his job at Kodak.
“If you can find people to do it with, it saves money, not having to put all the mileage on your car,’ said DeBolt.
Carpoolers are in the minority in the Rochester area. The Census Bureau reports 81 percent of us drive to work alone, and 8.7 percent carpool. The carpooling rate was down slightly from 2000 when it was 9.2 percent. In 1990, 11.8 percent of local workers carpooled. But in 1980, between 15 and 20 percent of Rochester workers shared rides.
The national carpooling rate is 12 percent. About 2 percent of Rochesterians take public transportation to work.
Urban planners attribute the decline of carpooling to workplaces that are spread out in the suburbs, flexible workdays, cheaper cars, and more people working at home.
U of R worker Karen Cokely carpools from her house in Byron and says the only drawback is the loss of independence.
“If you carpool with someone during the day and you need to leave for something, you either can't do it or you have to make other arrangements,” she said. But Cokely added she saves about $100 a month on gas.
For carpooling workers, saving money on gas, car maintenance and parking passes makes some inconvenience well worth it.
Not to mention the good company.
“It's nice to have someone to talk to on your way into work,” said Kresinki.
