America’s Carpool Culture

When I first arrived in the United States as a reporter, the media once invited me to write an article on Americans carpooling. At that time, my first reaction was that, since America was this nation of vehicles on wheels, with most families having an average of one vehicle, why would people want to carpool? After spending some time there I discovered that the history of American carpool culture isn’t that short after all and that a majority of states and regional governments encourage people to carpool.

Among America’s traffic icons, there is one marked like a diamond. On the signs at the entrances of some highways you can see this symbol along with the word “HOV.” This is the acronym for High Occupancy Vehicle, which means a vehicle that seats many people. The signs also say “Monday – Friday,” the time period, as well as “two or three or more people” — indicating that within the HOV time period (work days), only those vehicles with a precise number of passengers are permitted to enter this express lane commonly called the carpool lane.

HOV time is during rush hour, but it is different in opposite directions for the same stretch of road. The direction entering the city has HOV in the morning, while the direction leaving the city has HOV from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Violators receive a much heavier ticket than the average traffic violation; there are some counties where the fine can reach upward of $1000.

America’s carpool culture at its earliest began in the 1940s, around the time of World War II, when the shortage of oil and rubber limited the use of individual vehicles. In the 1970s, the oil crisis made the price of American gasoline rise sharply, and in order to save the cost of using cars, many large companies provided employees collective carpool services. Statistics show that at that time, approximately a quarter of Americans wanted to carpool to and from work. In several states, the number of carpooling families reached more than half that of all drivers.

This phenomenon has inspired municipal traffic managers to believe carpooling is a clever move to raise highway usage and reduce traffic congestion, and HOV lanes have arisen in response to demand. In order for most carpoolers to live in a suburban home with an automobile, they often plan to meet each other at a certain location and carpool from there. To encourage carpooling, many places are building parking lots for carpools with favorable prices.

The 1970s and ’80s became the golden age of American carpool culture. Moreover, what was unexpected for municipal traffic managers was that the profound changes occurring in American society and the economy made this era very short-lived. Due to people living and working in more and more dispersed locations, women entering the workplace, an increase in household income, a change in the average household vehicle situation and other common reasons, the power of carpooling disappeared and carpool culture has gone downhill. According to official data, America’s population has increased by one third since the 1980s, private car ownership has increased 60 percent and the number of carpoolers has decreased by half. At its peak, a special scene could be observed from time to time: On four-lane highways, traffic would crawl slowly in the three ordinary traffic lanes while there would be smooth sailing in the HOV lane.

Because of traffic jams, some people drive their cars up to two hours each way to get to and from work. To save time, there are still some people who choose to carpool and use the HOV lane. Strangers can find carpooling partners through social networking and carpooling websites; some people at community-established carpool locations publicize their own destinations to find fellow travelers going the same way. This type of carpooling between strangers has established a kind of foundation of mutual trust in American society.

Although the trend is that the number of carpoolers has declined, which frustrates municipal traffic management personnel, they believe that carpooling still has a future. With the popularity of today’s social networks people have an even easier time finding carpooling partners. The increase in environmental awareness also contributes to this cultural resurgence. Many people believe that American carpool culture will again see a golden age, but the government may have to design more effective stimulus measures.