How to incentivise/increase Carpooling...
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Peter O'Farrell | May 8 2014, 5:35pm | ..and decrease the amount of cars we bring into the hills. Jim Fitzharris and Paul O'Grady have started a discussion about this issue on the Scalp topic but it deserves a topic of it's own. Again :) Paul suggests rewarding any carpool driver with 2 passengers with a running volunteer credit. "in general recognise the driver who picked up people at the pub/bus stop/luas station as a volunteer" Other options off the top of my head: Logistics: #1 Get more landowners to provide parking fields #2 Only organise races with huge carparks Incentives: #1 1 minute headstart for all racers arriving by bicycle :) #2 30 second headstart for all arriving in fully loaded cars #3 Entry to a prize raffle for all arriving in full cars Disincentives: #1 Charge all cars a fee. 1 person=€4, 2 persons=€3, 3 persons=€2, 4 persons=€1, 5 persons=free. #2 Turn away single occupancy cars. Only expections=non running volunteers anyone else? |
| Mick Hanney | May 8 2014, 7:20pm | Has the IMRA carpool functionality been off the air? It certainly hasn't been very active in quite a while. When it was working it caught people's attention and drew them in. Certain things when they don't work put people off trying them (e.g. the photo upload!) which is a shame. I was a solo car last night (boo, hiss, I know). I arrived early but in retrospect should have been more vocal to try get a share. However, where I work and where I live I would have had low odds on getting a match for my carpool. The use of an intermediate point like a pub to carpool on from is great, but doesn't always work depending on where you live/work. Carpooling in Roundwood is great for Scarr/Ballinastoe for instance. Glencormac Inn for Djource trail/Crone events. The Step Inn when one lives in south Wicklow not so much. I'm all for incentives / discentives. I promise to try harder next time. |
| Paul O'Grady | May 8 2014, 11:21pm | One simple solution would be to allow the Race Director to grant a number of running volunteer positions for people who were prepared to drive a carpool car. The race director doesn't have to use this option for all races - just ones where they are of the opinion that the parking is scarce. We could leave it up to the race director as to what he wants or needs - ie a car in kilmac or one car at the luas or one car at the dart etc etc. As this would be a volunteer post (as opposed to just a normal carpool offer) the race director could tell the driver precisely what he needs. Not necessary for all races - just the ones where we don't want to be creating a nuisance of ourselves. |
| Stuart Scott | May 9 2014, 10:43am | Good work getting the discussion going again. Whatever about the capacity/environmental points of view, I think the main selling point of the carpool system is that it's a great way to get to know people (particularly when you're sitting on the side of the road wondering if your car will heal itself in time to make a race!). I'd say carpooling was how I got to know 70pc of the people I've met over the years and it's also very handy for the post-race Recovery Pints. At the same time, I'm not sure a prescriptive approach is all that necessary. A lot of people don't know if they'll get out of work on time and are afraid of having others rely on them, or are travelling from/to inhospitable locations. Carpooling from the pub (with a marshal on hand perhaps to make introductions) is probably the best all-round solution, but it should be left to the RD to decide as every race is different. By the way, I see 11 carpoolers on the event page for Scalp. It's pretty good going really. And I can confirm that cycling to a race does give a 59 second penalty! Stuart. |
| Brendan Lawlor | May 9 2014, 2:39pm | My advice on this topic for what its worth 1) Put your car up on the carpool section of the forum or put a message up on the forum thread of the relevant race - we need to improve the carpool function of the site 2) Get a lift from someone on the carpool section of the forum and leave your car at home 3) Organise your own mini car-pool with one, two or more of your IMRA pals 4) Call to the Carpool pub and pick up one or more other racers 5) Put your bike in the back of your car and park somewhere close to the race and cycle the last bit 6) Park somewhere close to the race, but not in anyones way and walk or jog the last bit 7) Cycle to the race 8) Give yourself an extra 15 minutes (or more) so you are not in a panic to get to the race 9) If you're late, you're late - don't stress, don't start shouting at people, park up your car somewhere away from the race start location and go out on the route for a nice de-stressing run, avoiding the finish line and enjoying the evening nonetheless |
| Ronan Hickey | May 9 2014, 5:05pm | To be honest I think Peter has it right with #1 Get more landowners to provide parking fields #2 Only organise races with huge carparks The only way to handle this is to limit the Leinster League races to races where we have access to large parking areas, be they fields or carparks. Penalising single occupancy cars, while potentially increasing IMRA's coffers with fines (not a bad result in fairness!) will just cause bad blood. Especially for people who, similarly to Mick Hanney's post, might be travelling on a route that few people are interested in pooling on, or mightn't know whether they will make the race due to work commitments but suddenly are able to make a break for the race start from the office. Rewarding carpool drivers doesn't seem to make sense to me either. Rewarding them with a running volunteer position? What is the point of running volunteer positions nowadays since the LL requires two non-running volunteer positions to qualify for a league prize? Is it to salve the "I must volunteer for a race every X races I run" conscience? If it is then I think we know that the people who care about that will always find a way to running volunteer. So it seems to me: 1. The problem only exists for the Leinster League races. 2. People will continue not to carpool regardless of rewards or penalties. 3. IMRA doesn't want to infuriate local landowners by parking illegally on roads. So I think the committee should accept that due to increased interest in their races, the LL will have to be limited to races where there is adequate parking. Obviously if more fields can be organised to increase the number of races IMRA can offer then all the better! Ronan |
| Eoin Keith | May 9 2014, 11:24pm | I like Brendan's advice! The website has had a big upgrade recently, and the carpool section should be working a bit better than before. If anyone has any technical issues with using the carpool section please send me an email and let me know. Issues there will be prioritised for fixes. |
| Richard Nunan | May 9 2014, 11:47pm | There is only adequate parking at any race thanks to the descent people that car pool or cycle to races. The committee "should" continue to drive initiatives as Brendan and Peter have suggested. Ones that take little effort logistically. One of the reasons we kept the Voucher System open is so you can punch a hole for your mate who drove you there. There isnt any race where we have space for 2/300 Cars so I(and not the committee) cant see that limiting races to places where there is adequate parking is going to be an option. This is mountain running. I think people do many of the things that Brendan has suggested. We just need more of it. We will discuss this at Tuesdays meeting so keep the suggestions rolling. |
| Mick Hanney | May 10 2014, 8:42am | Not a carpool technical issue but related. I tried to post a Forum Post for Next Weds event to suggest onward carpooling from Glencormac Inn, but I got Application Error and no message got posted. |
| Eoin Keith | May 10 2014, 11:19am | Hi Mick, The bug obviously isn't affecting all Forum postings, since your last post got through. Were you creating a new topic? |
| Mick Hanney | May 10 2014, 3:16pm | Yep, trying to do a (new) forum post for next Weds event re: carpooling. |
| Eoin Keith | May 10 2014, 9:48pm | That should all be fixed now Mick. Thanks for letting me know. |
| Jim Fitzharris | May 13 2014, 5:50pm | Just coming late to Mick's earlier posting. There will always be cases where someone leaves work late, is coming from the wrong direction, etc. These are the exceptions that should prove the rule. But barring situations like this, if those who could do so made more of an effort to carpool, it would be great. I know plenty of IMRA runners go to great lengths to do so - I swear I saw Brendan Lawlor arriving up to one race a while back with nearly as many passengers as a bus in India! If an RD can spare the volunteer, it is very helpful to post someone in the pub car park in a high-viz jacket marshalling cars & passengers. I did that once at Seefingan and I think it worked quite well. Of course, you cannot always spare the body ... Cheers, Jim. |
