If you live in the Bay Area and like to conserve resources (like, say, money and oil), perhaps ride sharing should be added to your list of transportation options. A free service called 511 Rideshare can help passengers and drivers find each other for daily commutes. The website can also help you find vanpool information, which is like carpooling on on steroids. Actually, considering the negative association steroids have these days, I'll say it's more like carpooling on a healthy vegan diet: strong and good for the earth.

If you use 511 Rideshare (which is funded by a bunch of government agencies; see the full list in the release after the break) you not only have someone to split costs with, but you can also then cross toll bridges in the Bay Area for free during your commute. The website will help you figure out just how much money you'll save on tolls and gas and everything with its Commute Calculator.

Have any AutoblogGreen readers tried this service? If so, how well would you say it works?

[Source: 511 Rideshare]

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay area is proposing a 10-cent-a-gallon regional gas tax. The tax would be applied in addition to existing state and federal gas taxes and state sales tax. The reason given for adding the tax would be to encourage drivers to go to more fuel efficient vehicles. In order to get the tax, two thirds of the voters in the nine counties in the Bay area would have to approve. The problem is that gas prices typically fluctuate by more than ten cents a gallon and such a small tax is likely to be ineffective for it's stated purpose. If they really want to influence drivers behavior they would need a substantially higher tax increase.

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle]