I’ve suddenly been put into a somewhat awkward situation. Last Friday afternoon, a coworker (whom I’d never met before) knocked on my office door and asked if I’d be interested in carpooling, since she lives a couple of miles away from me. She had a printout from the company rideshare office showing generally where she lives and where I live, and it turns out she lives a little over two miles away.
Unfortunately I can’t carpool because I workout in the mornings, which means that I leave home early and come back late, and I told her that. So she explained that she usually took the bus, which was OK in the morning, but in the evening not so much. She doesn’t want to drive because she was in a horrible accident not too long ago, and is reluctant to get behind the wheel again. And so it comes about that she only wants rides home.
I can do this, but it’s a bit awkward. She offered to pay, but I don’t know how much to ask for, or if to ask for anything would make me seem like a grasping opportunist. On the other hand, if I do ask, that helps keep it on a businesslike setting, always something to think about when I’m married and this woman is probably about two-thirds my age if not half. And it only seems fair to have some kind of compensation for this.
Any thoughts or opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.
This was an “edito”. I didn’t mean to repeat this fact, and certainly not to invite comparison between the phrases “two miles” and “a little over two miles”.
Figure it out on a per-mile basis. Each time you give her a ride you’ll drive an extra four miles (the two miles to her house, and the two miles from her house to your house). Five days a week, that’s 20 miles. I have no idea what standard mileage rates are these days – 50 cents? This will cover gas and wear and tear. 20 x .5 is $10 a week.
You might want to tell her you’ll try it for two months for $20/week and see if she’ll agree. Then if it sucks, you can just tell her it’s not working out.
The gas thing sounds equitable. “Sure, I can give you rides home if we’re leaving around the same time. Just chip in a bit for gas, and we’re good.” However, you mention the company rideshare office, so I wonder if there are general guidelines for ridesharing where you work that you could check out.
I found this thread interesting since where I work, we have a semi-informal company-wide carpool mailing list where drivers and riders can hook up with the understanding that having sufficient warm bodies to hit the HOV lane across the lake is enough payment. (hey, commuting across 520 is a lesser circle of hell) There are more formal van and carpool programs where people do chip in, though.
Is the 2 miles out of your way? Or is it on the way? You also don’t mention the distance from work. Take into account what it’s costing her to ride the bus, and the time it takes to get home on the bus vs. your car. If it gets her home a lot quicker, it’s fair to ask the same or a little bit more than bus fare.
If she’s looking to save money over the bus fare, ask for a little bit less than she’s paying for the bus.
You definitely should take this opportunity to defray your cost of gasoline, even if it’s only $5 or $10 a week, it’s better than nothing.
In a typical carpool, you’d take turns driving with the other person, which would cut your fuel and maintenance costs in half for the drive to and from work. Since she can’t contribute by driving half the time, it would make sense to get some money out of her.
They only provide general information, like the nearest major intersection. Of course in my case my apartment really is right on the corner, so it does narrow it down to one of four buildings or houses and is tantamount to giving an actual address in my case.
Twickster’s idea sounds good; but I would have to base it on only two extra miles per day, since this only happens in the evening. She takes the bus in the morning.
I think twickster’s suggestion is fair. I believe most employers use the mileage reimbursement rate established by the GSA for federal employees. According to this site, the 2006 reimbursement rate is 44.5 cents a mile.
I also second Kalhoun’s suggestion of putting it on a one- or two-month trial basis in case it turns out to be unworkable. It’s hard to say in advance how often either you or she will want to leave early, leave late, or head somewhere other than home after work, or will be out sick, on vacation, telecommuting for the day, or whatever.
On preview, I see scout1222’s point about nickel and diming, but more than recouping the gas money, it just seems like a good idea to put the arrangement on a very business-like basis.
My four miles was based on one trip per day – but assumed that she lived, say, two miles the other side of you from work, so you’d be doing regular commute + two miles to her house, then two miles back to your house, thus four miles you wouldn’t otherwise drive, once per day.
YMMV.
(Damn! It’s as fun as using “hopefully” correctly!)
The first time, I agreed to give a peer a ride to school on rainy days, because he rode a motorcycle. I did this exactly once, because my SO was so upset at me having a young man in my car that it wasn’t worth the hassle (but that SO was a jealous untrusting jerk, so YMMV).
The second time, I accepted payment to give a girl a ride to school every day. She couldn’t get a license herself, so I felt obligated to continue doing it for the rest of the semester, even though she was routinely late as well as loud, obnoxious, and suffered from unprotected urinary incontinence. It was a nightmare, and she laid a huge guilt trip on me when I finally told her it wasn’t working out.
You’re basically right, but not the way you suggest. She lives about the same distance from the office as I do, so it’s as if the three points are the angles of a skinny triangle. As we drive from work to her house, at the same time we’re effectively covering the distance between both our houses. I’m need to get more on the ball about this stuff if I expect to do well on the GRE later this year :smack:
I might also want to factor in something for the occasional eastbound surface street gridlock we sometimes experience in the evening, west of the 405.
I’m not sure about the position in the US, but, in the UK, this would invalidate your insurance, as you’re using your car for “hire and reward” - you’re offering a taxi service, in other words, especially if you’re thinking of charging her more than the cost of the fuel.
Yeah, I’d be worried about the insurance aspect too.
Check with your insurer first. I’ll bet it will increase your rates.
This also gives you a graceful out though, if you want to refuse without offending her.
There are more formal van and carpool programs where people do chip in, though.