I think you should take Provencher, Wookey

Recently my mornings have been a lot better. I’ve been laughing my butt off and having a great time before I get to school with my carpool mates. For the first couple of weeks I had a car to drive to school because my parents were away for a month. But that month is up and I won’t have too many chances to get a car. I could get rides to school with my brother, Ian, but he’s there a lot earlier then me except when I start early.

So needless to say I was a little worried that I was going to have to start taking the bus at some insanely ridiculous time before sunrise when it’s -40˚. I have no idea why but after living in Winnipeg all my life I’m still not cut out for winter.

I was wondering what in the world I could do to avoid taking the bus, to save some money, and ease my conscious about unnecessarily wasting fossil fuels. A brilliant idea struck me as I was walking alone to my car one day; I thought I should see if anyone from class who lives in my area wants to carpool. I knew whom to ask. Since the first day I knew basic background info on all the people in my class.

I ended up getting a really awesome group of people to carpool. With the phenomenal Jérémie Wookey as our driver, Alexa, Angèle, and I get safely to school every morning. Carpooling is a great way to socialized in the morning when I feel the most angry and irritated – I’m not a great morning person. I have such a good laugh with these people that I quickly snap out of my bitterness. Also, I think it’s a great way to keep my mind active and sharp all the while being happy and positive. I wonder if anyone else thinks this way?

Although we haven’t worked it out quite yet, I think carpooling will end up being cheaper than getting a monthly bus pass, which costs $58.30 a month. I think if we end up getting this parking spot we want it might cost $40 each a month including gas. This works a lot better because taking the bus in this city is painful.

Even better then saving some extra cash, though, is the fact that we took single-person vehicles off the road, which reduces emissions. I think more people should consider carpooling, and I challenge anyone to not notice a difference in their mornings, a difference in their pocketbooks, and a difference in the amount of cars on the road. But not enough people consider this an option, and the city presents no incentives to even try it. If you’re like me, I like to make the most of my time in the morning and sometimes carpooling can end up taking awhile, but if the city installed carpool lanes traffic could go at a much quicker pace. I think it’s great that the city is encouraging people to leave their cars at home and take their bikes with all the new bike lanes and pathways, but really not that many people ride their bikes’ to work in the winter. As a winter town, god I hate saying that, the city needs generate interest in carpooling and make it appealing to people to do so. Unfortunately people need to know what’s in for them before they even consider making a change. But I can tell you that your mental, social, physical, and environmental healths’ will improve all because carpooling creates an environment where there is less stress, more fun and interaction with others, and less wasted fossil fuels.

Find out how many people that you work or go to school with live near you? You might be surprised at what you find.