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I am new to New Zealand and have been here 8months. I dont like the traffic and the hassles to look for free parking if I have to drive to work. My friend and her husband who are old school friends and we come from the same country, helped me settle into my new environment kindly and offered the idea of carpooling. We have been doing it for 4 months now, since they moved into the same suburb as I am. I catch a lfit with them to where my friend works in the mornings and it is only 50cents on the bus to my office, or a good 40mins walk. They pick me up on the way home after work each day. We have lots of fun talking about our good old school days and about our families back in our country. We also discuss issues our country faces and when something comes up on the TV or news etc. We dont get to see each other much on weekends so the discussions in the car is for our catch up sessions.
Dolores from Te Atatu South (1 year ago)
I carpool with 3 others to work every day and we have a lot of laughs on our way there. Today was no different. When we arrived at our destination we got out of the car and headed off into work when we heard a small voice say, "Help, I can't get out". On further investigation we found that a lady couldn't get her safety belt to open.
It was good for a laugh for a while.
Corinna from Wellsford (1 year ago)
Carpooling is more like community than commute! I have found lots of colleagues live in Glendowie so even have options if a regular car pool ride isn't there. Carpool day is a great idea.
Matt from Glendowie (1 year ago)
I am a co-founder and managing director of a carpooling business. We have some technologies and a solution to the problem of finding someone to carpool with. Those T2 and T3 lanes do not need to be empty, but the authorities have not figured out how to make it easier for carpooling to happen. Most people think it will be solved by technology to find matches. Our opinion is it will be slightly different to that. Look at www.flexiblecarpooling.org for how we plan to do it. We are based in Auckland, but will be implementing this system in Seattle in a few months.
My experience on carpool day? I worked in my home office, dealing with people in Seattle, working on introducing a better way to carpool.
So I stayed off the roads! I did notice yesterday that there were more T2 vehicles than I usually see, so perhaps people were practising for carpool day.
At Trip Convergence we are impressed with Sarah's initiative. We are strong believers that as a community we need to stop this mindless wasting of energy and polluting of the planet and find ways to reduce traffic. Sharing rides is the least costly approach.
Well done Carpool Day promoters.
Paul from Remuera (1 year ago)
Today (Carpool Day) I carpooled with my workmate. I work on Level 2 and he works on Level 1. We greet each other at work but don't know each other outside of work. I did not realise how knowledgeable and interesting he was. His knowledge about cultures, beliefs and how we can solve matters and problems created lively discussion. Solving the problems of the world intrigued me along with the lively conversation. I also came to know about his family and how he spends his time with them what his family does on weekends. I have really come to know someone more than a basic good morning. And also we did not have to queue up to the single lane because we used the T2 lane. Carpooling is good and makes life easier and easy. Go carpooling! And I take my hat off to you. Well done carpooling!
Patricia from Waitakere to North Shore (1 year ago)
WE SHOULD DO THIS MORE OFTEN! Although I work for the Railways & am a traincatcher, sometimes it is necessary to drive to work... Luckily my partner works nearby so we travel together... It's astounding how many solo-drivers are on our roads... I love the "T2" lanes... BUT suffer road rage at those who use it and are not supposed to!!!
Jacqui (1 year ago)
I am car pooling with a mix of 3 people, we laugh and joke and debrief on our drives together. It is such fun and a lovely way to start and finish our days!
Mandy (1 year ago)
Myself and another colleague carpool 2-3 times a week. I'm lucky enough to get the use of a company car, so not only do we get the benefit of carpooling, we also get to park on site which makes life easier! Car pooling is great fun - lively discussions, solving the problems of the world.
Bronwyn from Auckland (1 year ago)
What a cool carpool into work today - I am sure there were less cars on the road today! We had a radio NZ journalist in our carpool today and were interviewed on the way in - made for very interesting conversation! I'm looking forward to reading YOUR guys stories throughout the day - thanks Annette from Glen Eden for being the first - what an awesome way to get to know your neighbour :-)
Sarah from Glenfield (1 year ago)
I have been working for Waitakere City Council for two years and taking my car or training over that time.
One day I went in early to work by train and ended up leaving shortly after because I felt sick. Walking up from the train station to home, a car pulled out of my road and the woman behind the wheel called out "do you want a ride". I said no thanks because I was just about home. (Not really sure what she meant as she was going the opposite way to me.) Turned out she worked for the Council as well, and when she got to work sought to find out who I was - which she did - and emailed me to ask where I lived and if I would like to car pool with her. The ironic part was she lived exactly opposite me and had been driving in the work for the last three years as she had a child to drop at kindy on the way! It has worked out wonderfully well and we have become great friends.
Annette from Glen Eden Auckland (1 year ago)
Sorry, story submissions have finished for 2009! Thanks to everyone that submitted!
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