Hitchhikers, Slugging, and Ridesharing Websites

The current Freakonomics Radio Podcast asks Where Have All the Hitchhikers Gone?  Explanations for the decline in the number of people sticking their thumb out on the highway include the risks associated with getting in the car with a stranger, spikes in the number of licensed drivers and car ownership, and increased auto durability.

What I found most interesting is the statistic that the average commuting vehicle carries only 1.1 people, leaving roughly 80% of its capacity unused.

Some individuals and companies are responding to this huge inefficiency.  In the Washington, DC area, "sluggers" are picked up by total strangers in order to meet the 3-person high occupancy vehicle (HOV) requirement for various highways.  No money is exchanged because the transaction is mutually beneficial.

And a company called Zimride offers a ridesharing site where those needing a lift can be matched up with drivers going to or near that destination.

Greater use of those types of services would not only allow more efficient use of vehicles (and fuel), but would also help ease the burdens of harried parents.  And it also would lead to more interaction between people in our communities.

And I am for all of that.

Some Good Podcasts and Episodes

Here are some Podcasts and particular episodes that have inspired and entertained me recently (go to this post if you still don't know what a podcast is or how to access them).

Update: Brand new article in the ABA Journal by Dennis Kennedy about the benefits of podcasts for attorneys.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) Ideacast:  The (Next) Financial Crisis
Nicholas Dunbar, author of The Devil's Derivatives: The Untold Story of the Slick Traders and Hapless Regulators Who Almost Blew Up Wall Street ... and Are Ready to Do It Again, discusses the gradual shift of the use of derivatives as useful instruments to hedge risk to speculative tools (gross simplification) and how that approach filtered down from Wall Street to Main Street.

WTF: Marc Maron and Todd Hanson. Maron sits down in his garage with one of the original writers of The Onion for a very funny, intense, and ultimately uplifting discussion. This is NSFW or for family listening, but Maron is an amazing human being and a great interviewer.

NPR Fresh Air: Comedian Louis C.K. Laughs Through Difficulties Terry Gross talks with another great comedian, whose perspective on aging, marriage, parenthood, and various other issues is at once hilarious, sobering, and insightful.

Freakonomics Radio: Hey Baby, Is That a Prius You're Driving? Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, authors of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, discuss the "conspicuous conservation" that occurs when green-minded people buy the Prius (dubbed "The Pious" on Southpark).