idk if this is the right place to ask this but since its about carpooling in america, ill just ask here!
im in the US for studies and im attending a commuter’s school, the commute being about 20miles. i have a license but parents arent comfortable letting me drive to school cause its gonna be 20miles on a freeway. they want me to carpool with a friend if possible
last semester, about 3 months ago, this girl from my class (not super close friends but i would say in that particular class, we were sort of each others closest friend) asked about my schedule for next semester and found out that we have rather similar schedule. she lives in the same city as me and briefly brought up the idea of how we can carpool to school together next semester to the main campus. (in that semester, our class was at a second campus in the city we both stay at)
im thinking of texting her if the offer is still valid and idk if she remembers what she said. (im also not entirely sure if she meant her as the driver or me.) of course im willing to help with gas but i dont want her thinking im “making use of her” so whats a good way to ask?
6 comments
“Hey is it still ok if I catch a ride to school with you? Happy to chip in for gas”
Whooo. That’s a lot of text and subclauses.
Have you tried “Hey, alright if I count on you for a ride to school? Wallet always ready if the gas tank needs a refill.”
[Edit: because I can’t believe I forgot to mention this. Notice what random soda, candy bar, whatever she always buys when she’s at the gas station. Next time you’re at the gas station with her giving you a ride? Just grab two of those and give her one. No words need be exchanged.]
People that car pool usually take turns driving. Since you don’t want to drive, you’ll need to pay for gas. Say, “are you interested in giving me a ride to school? I’ll split the gas costs with you.” Make it clear that you don’t intend to drive.
Just be upfront, carpooling isn’t solely about driving, it’s also about saving money on gas for a drive you have to do anyways. If someone was paying me to pick them up on the way I’d be fine with not splitting driving duties. I’ve done carpools where someone drove to my house and then I drove us in and they paid for not having to drive into work through traffic and I’d drive them back to my house after shift. If they wanted to pay me $20 to pick them up on the other side of town I’d have said no. Keep in mind this is entirely a personal decision and I wouldn’t think they were a jerk for saying no.
Edit/ I turned down carpooling with someone that joined my office who lived near me when I wasn’t in a carpool because I simply enjoyed my time in the car alone at the time and didn’t like my work responsibilities starting sooner than me leaving the house. It had nothing to do with the worker at all
Just be upfront. say you’re not comfortable driving in the US since you’re new here, and if you could catch a ride with her and split the gas bill.
“Hey, I noticed our class schedules our similar this semester. Would you be open to letting me catch a ride with you? I’m not comfortable driving here unfortunately but would be happy to split the gas costs if I could ride along with you.”
It’s about $0.50+/mi to operate a car these days, just something to keep in mind when calculating renumeration.