Survey Reveals Untapped Consumer Demand for Carpooling
Avego conducted a commuter survey to try to understand people’s attitudes towards carpooling. Specifically, we wanted to find out if time and/or money savings were motivators to consider carpooling.The survey of U.S. commuters revealed key findings in a number of areas including:
Saving Time and Money: 77 percent of consumers surveyed responded that they are interested in carpooling. Of those interested, 60 percent are motivated to carpool by the potential to save time on their commute, and 69 percent are motivated by the potential to save money.
How Much Money? For those consumers who would consider carpooling, 66 percent would carpool for $30 or less in savings per week.
Controlling the timing: When asked the primary reason they like to drive to work, 37 percent of respondents indicated they like to control when they leave, while 19 percent choose driving because it is more convenient than other options.
Rural vs. Urban: 77 percent of survey respondents who identified themselves as rural or suburban residents indicated they would be interested in carpooling versus 76 percent of respondents who identified as urban dwellers. Urbanites were most likely to be motivated by time savings, while rural/suburban residents were most motivated by saving money.
The findings come at a critical time for America’s transportation authorities, as new data from Inrix and the Texas Transportation Institute’s recent Urban Mobility Report detail the massive amounts of time and money wasted by traffic congestion. Additionally, President Obama recently outlined a $556 billion transportation plan as part of his 2012 budget proposal.
“Despite the gradual decline in carpooling in America in the last 30 years, interest in carpooling remains phenomenally high,” said Sean O’Sullivan, Avego managing director. “If technology and policy can combine to offer the right mix of time and money savings to potential carpoolers, millions of Americans can play their part in reducing the huge costs of traffic congestion and infrastructure.”
Currently, nearly twice as many people in the United States carpool as take public transit, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The data from the survey suggests America’s carpooling rate could be seven times higher than it already is.