Corporate Carpools

Many companies, universities and organizations support closed carpools as a member benefit. By limiting the carpool to a closed group, lack of trust is usually not an issue anymore – and communication between participants is intended. In case many carpoolers share one campus or building, the probability to find a matching ride is much higher in this circular setting than in a plain field setting. Smaller companies might even team up with other companies close-by in order to reach the critical mass for a sufficient ride matching probability.

Expected Benefits

Benefits for the employees

• Reduced commuting costs
• Networking
• Perks related to the carpool, such as priority parking
• Reduced stress by not driving on their own

Benefits for the company/organization

• Higher employee satisfaction
• Networking among different departments
• Reduced carbon footprint for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Improved image as a environment-friendly company
• ISO 14401 certification friendly
• Reduced need for parking space

The following post gives an overview about some carpooling systems available for these corporate carpools.

Functionality

When organizations set up a carpool, they need to select a system matching their specific needs. Just implementing any kind of matching software and hoping that it will be used won’t be sufficient. To reach a sufficient matching probability, a “critical mass” (or more precisely a “critical density”) needs to be active right from the start. Otherwise participants will test it, not find a ride – and be lost for the system. Promising carpooling systems offer both: the technical platform and implementation and operations support. Let’s have a look at some of the known systems on the market:

This information is supplied without liability and subject to change.
Added 2019-04-23: http://b2ride.org/
Added 2019-06-08: https://www.hitchhike.ch

A pretty comprehensive list of carpooling systems in Germany is available at this Twitter Moment from @MetaMitfahrPort.

Conclusion

The market for carpool systems is developing quickly and pure software offers might in future be offered via specialized consultancy companies. So please provide feedback and further insights on the systems, share  your experience and watch this space!