Dangerous Roads newsletter: Long Island carpooling has fallen 50% since 1980. What would make us share a ride?

It’s Peter Gill, Alfonso Castillo's colleague on the transportation desk, filling in for him this week.

Lately I’ve been thinking about carpooling.

In the run-up to last month’s Long Island Rail Road strike, some experts predicted gridlock because of train riders displaced onto the roadways.

Mercifully, the strike ended after 3½ days and with only minimal traffic congestion (at least beyond what’s considered "normal" on Long Island). But if the strike lasted longer, it would have been interesting to see if Long Islanders turned to sharing rides with friends, family or neighbors out of necessity — as they did in previous strikes.

Only about 7% of Long Islanders carpool today as their primary means for commuting, according to a Census Bureau survey. That’s a far cry from 1980 — the first year the census tracked the variable — when roughly 18% of Suffolk residents and 14% of Nassau residents shared rides to work.

Check out these charts:

The rise in work-from-home since 2020 really sticks out — a phenomenon many people are familiar with. Both driving alone and taking public transportation to work have also dropped — which may be in part due to the rise of remote work. But the drop in carpooling also intrigued me.

For some, carpooling is an attractive way to reduce their carbon footprint. It can also be a way to speed up commuting on the LIE — especially now that the HOV lane is no longer open to electric vehicles after the Clean Pass Program ended in October.

But historically, carpooling has often been driven by necessity. Driving solo is associated with rising incomes, and carpooling has surged in times of higher oil prices — as in during the OPEC embargo of 1973.

The price of gas has once again spiked since the war with Iran began in late February; the price of regular unleaded gas is up about 44% compared to a year ago — though it’s still below its high of $5.05 per gallon in 2022.

I’m interested in talking to Long Islanders who do carpool or have otherwise adjusted their commutes — so if you are one, please reach out to us at roads@newsday.com.

Readers speak up

Here's a reader with ideas about how to improve bike lanes.

One of the biggest things that is hamstringing Nassau's implementation of cycling infrastructure is their lack of a bicycle plan. They are the only metro NY county without one and have been talking about creating once since their 1998 master plan was adopted. Without a plan there's nothing to identify where they even need cycling infrastructure in the first place.

Sean Cirillo, Oceanside

Changing newsletter

We're expanding this newsletter to address transportation concerns beyond just dangerous roads. Send us your suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered, and any suggestions for a new name for the newsletter to roads@newsday.com.