Strangers

San Francisco Tolls!
Originally uploaded by eriqliza.

Let’s hitchhike. To work. Kinda. They call it Casual Carpooling and it consists of standing in an unmarked line at an underpass. A constant stream of cars visits the line and picks up two people at a time. This is not sanctioned by the government. There are no signs directing you to where you’re supposed to go. No money is passed between people. No one talks during the ride except to say “hello” and “thank you”. And we’re all strangers. Complete strangers. The ride ends when you get dropped off on in SF at the bus depot. Apparently Casual Carpooling has existed in the Bay Area for over 20 years. The reason? Because it costs 4 dollars to go over the Bay Bridge, but it’s much faster and free if you are in the carpool lane with 3 or more people (I suppose it’s extremely expensive if you get caught in the carpool lane with 2 or less people).

I’ve tried it… three times. It’s not scary. Super easy. And very affordable. Let’s hitchhike to work. You will like it.