Maybe carpooling is the answer...Anyone?

Erin Maloney-Chumney

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I hate the 'Gas Man'.

Strong words, I know, but well deserved.

The price of gas, now at a maximum of $1.351 per litre, is slowly but surely ruining my life. You probably think I'm being overdramatic. But let me explain.

As we all know, with the price of gas going up, eventually everything else goes up. Our groceries, power bill, etc... I'm convinced that even Bell Aliant will try to increase the price of text messages to try and get in on the money. There's no LOL about it.

Well these increases are eating away at my spending money. And I don't like it. You see, I travel 45 km to get to work and 45 km to get home, Monday to Friday. You probably think I'm nuts, well I'm starting to think so too. But I'm a country girl, and I wanted to live in the country. I've managed to buy a great house with 50 acres of land with my fiancé. Our sacrifice being the commute...and now my spending money. The wise economists at the Bank of Canada say the price of gas will slowly but surely creep up to $1.50 this summer.

Like I said, I hate the Gas Man.

Carpooling is the answer you say? Well I agree whole-heartedly. Environmentalist at heart, as soon as we moved out to the new crib, I started searching for a rideshare buddy. I've posted on Kijiji, Facebook, Carpool.ca -- you name it, I've posted there. I've got an ad up. I figured someone out there would want to rideshare, save some money and have less wear and tear on their car.

But that's not the case. It seems that no one and I mean NO ONE in the Greater Moncton Area wants to carpool. This is evident by the number of cars travelling at one person occupancy any weekday morning or evening from Champlain St., Dieppe to Main St., Moncton. And let me tell you, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that traffic.

Let me guess, you think I live too far out, right? Out in the back woods, or as my step-dad says "We have to come out to hunt" we live so far out in the sticks. But this isn't the case. I found someone who works in the same vicinity as me and lives a mere five minutes away.

This person travels to downtown Moncton Monday to Friday and works almost the exact same hours. Well guess what. They changed their mind and don't want to carpool. Too inconvenient. Bullocks.

I understand how carpooling can be a drag. I've done the Moncton to Sackville commute while a student at Mount Allison. But for me the cost savings would be worth the extra time and effort it takes.

Am I the only person who wants to save some money? Seriously. But there's hope.

The City of Moncton has informed me that the Environmental Committee would discuss my idea of having a forum for ridesharing on the city website in the future.

I'll be keeping tabs on their new site, hoping to see some sort of progress in this direction. Assuming, of course, that the Gas Man hasn't completely broken the bank and I can afford to pay for Internet. Ha!