The term "carpooling’ denotes the contribution of car journeys so that more than one person travels in one car. Therefore, it is considered to be an environmentally-friendly activity and a sustainable way to travel, as sharing journeys diminishes carbon emissions, traffic congestion on the roads and the need for more parking spaces, which are the three main daily problems one faces on the Maltese roads.
Many have been discussing and considering the idea of carpooling for years now but still, the number of cars on our roads continues to grow and we haven’t seen a difference yet. Some might opine that students might not opt to carpool, as it requires the dependence on others and a lot of punctuality from their side. Any participant running late can effectively make all the other passengers behind time, since the driver has to wait for the participant. Some are arguing that it won’t be possible to carpool as their colleagues or friends do not live close to them and this will therefore discourage them from this activity as it may be time consuming.
"Drive Less, Save More’
Carpooling can definitely be a reasonable option and most of all appropriate for those people who are traveling to the same or nearby location. It can save you some money as it reduces the costs involved in repetitive or long-distance driving. By cutting down to one car, this initiative helps to fill the extra seats in your vehicle, reducing air pollution and traffic congestion, which is something that benefits all of us, thus helps to combat the rise of traffic congestion and therefore fewer cars crowding the roads.
From a whole country’s population, students should be aware of carpooling, as the majority of them are the ones who are traveling to the same or nearby location. In Malta, the University Students’ Council (KSU) launched an initiative to promote carpooling in order to reduce the congestion on campus and the risk of finding parking within the University whereabouts. The council suggested a two-month plan to see if this will reduce the number of cars, recommending that the vehicle carries a driver and at least two other passengers and if so, students are given preference at the University car park 4, which caters for 35 car park spaces. If this initiative works, why not expand to other parking spaces as well at University, not just than car park 4?
The carpooling initiative has only been launched on Tuesday and is already showing some results after just two days. Since car park 4 is the closest car park area to quad, students are opting to make carpooling an option. If you prefer parking your car closer to University, why not opt to carpool rather than parking your car blocks away and walking it from Swatar or from Tal-Qroqq, Gzira?
While some people have labelled this initiative as ’senseless’ and mentioned that students might try to abuse the system by the use of parking permits, in the long run, it should be a fruitful initiative which most probably will be spread in other parking areas within University in the near future.
Students can offer or ask for lifts via Facebook by creating group chats amongst friends or even ask for a lift by using the car pooling application on the KSU website, www.ksu.org.mt.
