We were saddened this week to learn that The New York Times has declared carpooling dead.  The article describes a national trend that the vital signs for carpooling, once thriving in the 70's during the oil crisis, have been declining over the past 30 years -- and now a once-popular solution to combating fuel prices and traffic has passed away. 

According to the Times, carpooling is survived by its distant cousin, slugging.

The Clean Air Campaign, along with metro Atlanta carpoolers, read the obituary.  But we didn’t get the memo.

Reports about the death of carpooling are greatly exaggerated.  In fact, the American Community Survey shows metro Atlanta carpool numbers have held rather steady over the past decade:

Looking at the national picture, remember that carpooling first appeared as a data point on the census in 1980, when the aftereffects of the oil crisis were still raging.  And it’s not surprising that carpool numbers went down from 1980 to 1990 as oil prices stabilized.  In spite of this, Atlanta ranks among the top 10 U.S. cities for carpooling based on 2000 census figures.    

Georgia – particularly Atlanta – is better positioned than many other areas of the U.S. to make carpooling attractive to commuters and employers because of programs like:

• Guaranteed Ride Home – when carpoolers and other users of commute alternatives need to get home because of an unexpected event – or have to work late – RideSmart and The Clean Air Campaign can arrange a free ride home.

• Ridematching Assistance – there’s a database of 50,000 Georgia commuters seeking carpool partners, vanpool partners and bike buddies.  Chances are, many of them may live and work near you.

• Carpool Rewards – carpools of three or more can earn $40-$60 in monthly gas cards from The Clean Air Campaign.

It could also be argued that Atlanta's limited transit footprint makes it more likely for commuters to opt for carpooling if they're motivated to do something other than drive alone and have the means. 

So we say to those grieving over the death of carpooling, before you pull the hearse around front, be sure to hold Atlanta out of the funeral procession.

With the cunning stealth of a swamp crocodile, gas prices throughout Georgia have crept back above the $3 mark and pounced on Georgia commuters. It's been a long, quiet ascent - which is perhaps why commuters have continued to tolerate the bite from this increase, unlike the wild ride in 2008 that brought about less driving. Are we headed for a repeat of those volatile times?

The distant speculation about paying $5 a gallon for gas in the future has received lots of attention after a former oil executive offered his dire prediction for 2012. Maybe this is what the Mayans were all worked up about with regard to 2012. But The Atlantic this week published a good reminder that tomorrow can wait. Today's "gas pains" are uncomfortable enough as it is, especially in Atlanta.

As more commuters sharpen their pencils and work to wrangle household budgeting for present times, The Atlantic suggests that policymakers jump in and do more to alleviate the burden of rising fuel prices by encouraging telework, ridesharing and tax relief for employers who get behind commute options programs.

Good news, folks. Georgia already has the infrastructure in place to do this and more. The Clean Air Campaign and its partners have been in front of this issue for more than a decade now, working with more than 1,600 employers and tens of thousands of commuters across the state. These groups knew where to turn for fiscal relief when the petrol pandemonium of 2008 jumped up and grabbed them, as evidenced by the 100% uptick in program participation by employers and the threefold increase in commuter incentives participants. So bring it on, volatile gas prices. We're still here ... and in 2011, we're ready to help Georgians in even more ways.