How long does it take for driving alone to become a distant memory?
We all aspire to do good things – get up 2 hours early to go to the gym, donate to a good cause, join a carpool or vanpool to work. But the reality is that 67% of us never use our gym memberships and 76% of Americans drive to work alone. The desire is there, but creating new habits is just plain hard, and it takes time.
Theories abound on how long it takes to form a new habit (anywhere from 90 days to the questionable 3 hour fast track techniques) and on what methods can be used to ensure this new task becomes such an integral part of your daily routine you don’t even notice you’re doing it. However, at Avego we know of one person who has most definitely cracked that formula.
Marco A., an Avego user in Bergen, Norway, passed the 800-shared trip marker last month. As Marco became an Avego user less than 18 months ago, he had to consistently take 2 shared trips per day to reach this point. It was routine and regularity that lead to Avego becoming a part of Marco’s morning and evening commute routines and ultimately taking at least one car off the Bergen roadways each workday for the past year and a half.
We had a quick chat with Marco to see how he built this routine into his life.
Avego: Marco, we know you love Avego RTR now, but what motivated you to take part in the first place?
Marco: At first, the role as a company contact was handed over to me on a temporary basis by a person who eventually left my organization. Actually, I have to admit, I didn’t think that this project was going to be a success at all! I don’t have a parking problem, I don’t have a traffic problem, but this is mostly because my working hours are slightly outside normal business hours and I assumed others had commutes just like mine.
But when I began hearing about other people’s problems in the area, and the newspapers started focusing on smog problems in Bergen, it somehow opened my eyes to the problems we are going to face in the near future if we don’t do something today.
Avego: Inspiring stuff Marco! I know many people reading this article have an interest in Avego RTR for similar reasons, but just can’t seem to keep ridesharing. What is it that motivates you to keep going – 800 times?
Taking part in the Avego RTR program has given me a new perspective on what we can do together as a group of ordinary people. We don’t always have to rely on politicians to take action. Change can start from the ground up and when I believe in something I want to see it work. That’s what keeps me ridesharing!
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Hundreds of people in Bergen, Norway are ridesharing weekly using Avego. What not trying the same in your community for 2013