Carpooling pair save money while getting taken for ride

Welcome to the New Year, when resolutions flow as freely as champagne.

You know the ones: Lose weight, get back into shape, run a marathon, climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I don't know about you, but the odds of me following through with my lofty resolutions would send the city's wise guys into a betting frenzy. The payout would be similar to hitting Megabucks.

But here's an attainable goal that most people might be thinking about this year: Finding methods, innovative or obvious, to save some money.

Meet Jackie Brennan and Paula Harris. These two women have figured out one way.

Harris fills her vehicle with gasoline every two weeks and has never had to replace the tires on her 7-year-old car. Both women always find prime parking at Henderson City Hall, where they work. Plus the two receive prizes every now and again -- a pair of binoculars, gift cards, desk clocks. Oh, and did I mention they occasionally are treated to free lunch parties?

So what's their secret? They ride to work together.

It's called carpooling, which is something of a foreign concept in Las Vegas, where most motorists are married to their vehicles. Full disclosure: I would be one of these people. I love my car and don't really want to share it with a stranger.

But these two women appear to like each other, so it has worked out well. They have been carpooling to work for almost a decade.

"When gas prices were extremely high, we were grateful to have each other," Harris said. "I'm not racking up the miles on my car, so that is saving me money."

Brennan added: "It's nice because I don't have to drive by myself. I have someone to talk to. Plus we get a great parking space, and parking is like gold at City Hall."

The two joined Club Ride when the program was introduced in 1999, and have since benefited from the designated Club Ride parking spaces and monthly drawings.

Club Ride, a program sponsored by the Regional Transportation Commission, works a little bit like Match.com, except once you find the perfect partner you don't need to bring flowers on your first date. Someone just needs to bring a vehicle.

When you sign up, which you can do at rtcsouthernnevada.com, the agency asks the obvious questions like where you are headed; but it also inquires about the type of music you listen to while driving, whether you smoke, if you're sensitive to perfumes or colognes. Basically, they don't want to hook up Grandma with P. Diddy.

"We input the data and shoot you back a list with people compatible with you," RTC spokeswoman Allison Blankenship said.

The program has been a success, considering it's difficult to pry motorists out of their own cars. Blankenship said that in November alone, Club Ride participants took part in 38,000 carpool trips and saved about $66,000. This is based on the distance of the trips, the number of trips and the average savings of 15 cents per mile for fuel and basic wear and tear.

A carpooling duo, like Brennan and Harris, save a total of about $70 a month.

"It's not just about the savings, but putting fewer pollutants in the air," Harris said. "We're both grandmas and you tend to think more about that stuff."

Club Ride has attracted 230 employers -- the ones who designate parking spaces and sponsor free lunches for members -- and about 19,000 employee participants. Both the Regional Transportation Commission and participants would love for that number to grow, but understand the challenge.

Brennan noted that carpooling probably hasn't caught on in Las Vegas because it's a 24-hour town and so many employees work different shifts.

Harris believes it's a regional issue.

"It's the typical mind-set across the West Coast, 'I have a car and I can get where I want to go when I want to go,' " Harris said. "It's about changing that mind-set."

Changing my mind-set, now there's an attainable New Year's resolution.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at (702) 387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@ reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.