What does your commute say about society?

We don’t even need to look as far as casual carpooling to recognize that a war is being waged on formality.

Rules, etiquette, social structure, which used to be the very foundations of society, are now seen as but a thorn in our sides, a barrier to true, unfettered self-expression.

Our relaxing social norms can be seen across the board; language, attire, business, even relationships are being approached with a try-and-fail attitude.

1. The Casual Society

69%

31%

change mode frequentlydon't change mode

83%

17%

different driversdailysometime the same driver

56%

44%

frequently alter their roledon't alter their role

Casual Carpool has been in existance for over 30 years and its persistence, its growth, and its strong Millennial contingent (36%), prove that casual behavior is not just something that works, but something that is desired by today’s society.

This is an era where uptight workplaces are being replaced by funky open spaces where flexible hours, limitless supplies of Odwalla, and doggy day care are highly ranked job perks. It is an era where 20-somethings can be CEOs and where peer-to-peer funding has been made commonplace by awesome platforms like Indigogo.

The number of mobile phone owners in the U.S. who use a smartphone reached 74% in 2013. Among Casual Carpoolers that number is 85%. This community which has embraced an entirely no-tech solution to their complex commute problem are just as tech savvy as their Silicon Valley counterparts traveling in luxury, wifi-enabled buses. The endless potential to improve lives through these powerful computers in people’s pockets forces us to think bigger, to be bolder and to embrace crazy ideas. They help us buck the trend of wastefulness in society through apps like GoodGuide, Carma, and Poshmark.

2. The Technical Society

Today you can share any variety of things. Why is it, however, that we have seen this recent surge in their growth, such as the spread of AirBnB to 192 countries?

Is it a greening society looking for a more efficient use of resources?

Is our society more disposed to connecting with strangers because of the rise in social networks?

Is it a mere coincidence or causality that this sector emerged towards the end of the economic recession of the 2000s?

2. The Sharing Society

Although no definitive answer exists, we know that sharing itself is not a new concept – see TimeBanking from the 1980s, communes from the 12th Century, even religions promote sharing.

It is the monetization of sharing that is new and that places the Sharing Economy somewhere between barter, sharing, and commerce.

Even the monetization of Casual Carpooling is in its infancy and only emerged in 2010 when a toll was introduced for carpools on the SF Bay Bridge.

The Casual Carpool community is a very interesting prism through which to view today’s society.

It shows us that, although there is a tendency to distrust strangers, by our estimates 11,500 people meet and trust two at least strangers daily.

Through mutual benefit a Sharing Society has grown, through fading rules and etiquette a Casual Society has grown, and through our continued focus on making crazy ideas a reality a Technical Society has grown.

Who ever thought how we commute could tell us so much about ourselves?

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Adapted from a blog at: https://medium.com/keepin-it-casual-sf/c935a6e86e18Thanks to www.carmacarpool.com for the support on this piece* Statistics based on research run in 2014 by UC Berkeley and Carma Carpooling