Do yourself good while fighting climate change

We all know about commuting. The Sunday article “Tail Lights” (July 9) talked about causes of the problem and ways to combat the stress of the inevitable hassle. It’s all quite true, but we should be thinking about things we can do together to reduce the delay, the stress and the pollution.

If a large number of commuters decided to share their cars with another commuter, how would that affect the number of cars on the road, the commute time, the cost, and the carbon dioxide emissions? Would it result in less pressure on our roads, less need for big road revisions like the one at the Tacoma Dome? Think about it. What if you could save $50 a month in gas without buying a Prius?

Carpooling has been a pretty boring idea. Sort of like switching out lightbulbs, But there are a number of folks who do it, and believe me, the benefits really add up. I did both myself for years!

There are a number of ways employers and governments can help. The world is waiting for an Uber-like app that will allow folks to connect with fellow commuters easily. It is time to be creative. Your work schedule is probably predictable, like most people’s. You don’t have to carpool every day.

If everything changed all at once, cars on the road would drop 40 percent without changing the passenger carrying capacity. You would save money from day one.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Do yourself good while fighting climate change."