Does car pooling really work

This is a question that has come up in my mind many times now. I have been listening to a campaign being promoted in one of the radio stations, called Radio One 94.3FM, about doing car pooling to help reduce traffic congestion in Bangalore. I certainly identify with the issue and would like to contribute in some way.

The more I think of my contribution, the realization dawns on me that it is going to be very difficult for me to car pool. The reason is that I have a hectic schedule everyday that includes conference calls starting at 08:30pm. It so happens that my work at office extends till about 7 or 7:15pm and I leave for home so I can reach just in time to start my conference calls. With car pooling, the challenge would be to manage these timings with my car pool partner. I wouldn’t want to get delayed for my important conference calls because my car pool partner didn’t make it in time.

The other thought is that it would be easy if you have a car pool group with folks within your own company. Yes, may be. But that could be difficult if you work in a small company like mine which has about 50 employees; because you are less likely to find a good number of people in and around the same place that you stay.

Having said all this, have I given up completely on car pooling? The answer is - NO. I hope to give it a try sometime. I would love to hear from people who have successfully car pooled and I am sure they must have managed some of the issues that I highlighted above.

Note: This is the website that promotes, talks about carpooling in Bangalore