One of the great things the Carma carpooling app allows is for a driver to recover some of their motoring costs. This may sound a little vague, so what does this actually mean for the driver? In my case, I usually earn about $3.30 from each rider each way on my 16.5 mile commute. So sometimes this can mean nearly $20 a day if I bring three passengers with me on a return trip. My hometown doesn’t have a carpool lane, but it’s hard to beat the ability to recover that amount each day doing my normal drive.
This had added up to about $1900 since I started using the app. You can look at this as money you have spent on motoring costs or as extra money you’ve saved by using the app – or sometimes even disposable income if you’ve covered your costs.
For me, it varies from month to month, but it’s wonderful to be able to indulge your other passions with the money. So, as an avid kayaker and carpooler, I’ve been able to pick up an Oru Kayak which is a very cool folding boat. Fold your boat into your trunk and do your normal commute while recovering your motoring costs. Then, when the mood strikes you to go for a paddle, you just open the boat in 5 mins and jump on the water. Carpooling and Kayaking working together!
Some more paddling brought to you by Carma Carpooling:
Cian, thank you for your story. These kind of stories keep coming in in Bergen too. One user, Roald G, cashed out 800 dollars and went to see Stevie Wonder live in The Netherlands. He is picking up two colleagues close to a kindergarden where they drop off their kids and then carpool to work. Another user Olav A is cashing out every time he accumulates NOK 1000 ($160) to pay for gas or car maintenance. Carpooling in Norway is approx 1/30 th of a taxi fare, 1/10th of driving alone and 1/3rd of a bus ride. It is also quicker and much more fun! Please make more stories like this!