Carpooling major drive in lowering congestion

Carpooling is one way to help reduce congestion on the expressway.

A carpooling group started via social media has gained traction, with more than 600 members signing up since it began a few weeks ago.

Osteopath Matthew Judge was travelling to work in Hastings from his home in Napier when he became concerned at the lengthy delays on his commute.

“Having queued from Kennedy Rd on to the expressway, I was crawling along in traffic thinking if there was anything that could be done to help - I desperately wanted to help reduce travel times for drivers by decongesting the expressway.”

Matthew says he was shocked by how it was taking well over an hour to drive from Napier to Hastings.

“Waka Kotahi had even posted multiple times on Facebook to expect travel times of up to 2.5 hours between the towns.”

Matthew started the Carpooling Napier Hastings group in a couple of established local Facebook groups and within the first few days, the group amassed more than 600 members.

“Since then, I haven’t posted it very much as I didn’t want to ‘spam’ the groups but friends and family are still sharing it and many are simply talking about carpooling with colleagues.”

Matthew believes the group has made people think about the impact of using the roads and how they can do their bit to reduce traffic loads, especially at peak commuting times. He says people who haven’t tried carpooling may have concerns about it inconveniencing their trips, but the more people someone can get in contact with, the more harmonised drop-off/pick-ups can be.

“In reality, it isn’t ever much of an issue.”

Matthew has found that carpooling can save a huge amount of money in fuel and can be good fun having some company along the way.

“For the community, it reduces vehicle numbers on the road - reducing congestion - as well as aiding emergency services in their trips. It also has the benefit of reducing pollution due to fewer engines running and so has a positive impact on the environment.”

He believes another benefit of carpooling is by reducing traffic volume on the roads, it may make cleaning up and repair work less challenging for workers.

Matthew hopes after the effects of the cyclone on the roads have been mitigated, people will continue to think of carpooling as a way to help themselves, their friends and family, as well as the environment. He believes the group will have already made a difference.

“With maybe 6000 vehicles commuting between Napier and Hastings daily, even a 20 per cent reduction would therefore remove several hundred vehicles off the road each day, both ways. I’m now aware that many businesses and employers are looking at carpooling, realising the benefit for the roads and their staff morale.”

With peak time congestion on the expressway between Napier and Hastings, Matthew believes carpooling could provide one answer for alleviating the problem long term.

“It is great to see the bus service starting up again but with limited times, carpooling has the great benefit of commuters being able to organise trips with someone at a time that suits you most, having an ideal drop-off point as well as saving money.”