BANGALORE: Some want to save time and money while others just think of it as an act of socialising. Carpooling is soon catching up as a trend among young working parents who have to look for an alternate way of commuting in the absence of school transport system.If a word of mouth is not enough, there are sites such as parentree.in to help parents search for others interested in carpool. The school authorities, in some cases, organise programmes to encourage parents to carpool.But mostly, it’s the parents’ initiative.On safe trackThe use of private transportation is a cheaper option than carpooling but for most parents it’s the safety of their children that’s most important. “I thought of hiring a private van initially but soon realised that it’s very risky. For older children it’s all right but younger ones need special attention. There was only one helper with the driver to take care of almost 30 kids. Thankfully, I found three more mothers coming from the same area and we decided to carpool. Now, it’s the turn of one parent every week to drop and pick up kids and the whole month is taken care of,” said Divya, a mother of three-year-old boy studying at Vidya Sagar Nurture, Bhoopsandra Main Road.Spoorthy, another parent at the same school, pointed out that it’s important to know other parents well before deciding on carpooling with them. “Parents should also bond well with each other so that there are no problems or misunderstandings when you start to carpool.You can’t ride with complete strangers so take your own time instead of rushing into things,” she advised.Cause and effectApart from saving time and money, carpooling conserves energy and reduces carbon emissions. So there are parents who do this as a social responsibility. Veenu, who left her job as a software professional to take care of her kids, is one of them. “I was carpooling while I was working and wanted my kids to do it because it reduces carbon emissions, traffic congestion on the roads, and the need for parking spaces,” she explained.For Jatinder Singh, whose four-year-old daughter goes to Bishop Cotton’s Girls School, it’s the stress of driving that got him interested in carpooling. He said, “My daughter’s school is 12 km from our house and driving every day was becoming a big problem before I found parents living in nearby areas.I’ve to drive only 8-10 days in a month.” Friendly moveCarpooling allows kids to social and make new friends but for that it’s important to choose kids who could get along well with each other.Sudha, a mother of two, said, “My daughter was in a habit of junk food but thanks to another girl, we were carpooling with, she started eating healthy food. I’m really happy that I decided to choose her to carpool.” Tough to believe but carpooling might just help kids in making friends forever.Like in the case of Shefali, who has been carpooling since her son has been going to a playgroup. “It’s been more than two years I’ve been doing it. They have become great friends.They are planning to even carpool to college together,” she laughed. As they, good habits start early.
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