All this week RideSearch will be monitoring the blogs of ABC's Good Morning America Carpool Challenge. Check this page often for updates as to how the riders are doing.

Team Cartus - Danbury, Conn.

Members: PATRICK LEWIS, Senior Communications Specialist, Cartus Corp., TREVOR MACOMBER, Corporate Writer, Cartus Corp
Blog: Team Cartus Blog

Day Zero:
Both Patrick and Trevor are a little apprehensive about carpooling, Patrick more-so than Trevor. They can see the benefits but, because Patrick has never carpooled, he has the most reservations. Patrick lays out some rules such as: do not talk to me and do not comment about my driving. It is possible to have a carpool where the people do not have to speak to one another at all. Patrick may find that having a passenger in the car does not mean you can't stay yourself in the morning. Trevor is more light-hearted and his concerns are about liking different sports teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. Trevor has carpooled before and he knows the ins and outs of it. My bet is on this team to be one that is successful, provided they don't talk baseball.

Day One:
The incompatibilities between the two seem insurmountable considering Patrick already has a list of carpooling rules. Carpooling rules are subjective and it is up to the group to agree. One major problem with this carpool is that Patrick seems inflexible in some areas like climate control. He does have a right since it is his car, however this only works for one time carpools. For a daily carpool to last the rules have to be agreed upon by both parties. For instance there could be a comprimise on the music. Being late to work is something that both parties should agree is a big no no. Patrick does relax a little and surprisingly enjoys it. I wonder who the alpha is in this group.

Day Two:
The carpool arrangement Patrick and Trevor has chosen is the alternate days option. Bascally they drive their own car every other day. Today was Trevor's turn. They were late again, but now I can see that they really are more compatible than one would think. Weird Al is a good choice of tunes for Trevor, but Patrick was questioning his sanity from the music choice. Sometimes it is best to drive in silence, especially if the music really irritates you. There is more success when both parties like the same music. One of the great things about carpooling is you get to learn stuff about someone else that you never would learn if you just treated your work acquantences without inquiry into their likes and dislikes.This carpool just may work.

Team Brown Caldwell - Golden, Col.

Members: JACK KEITH, Engineer, Brown and Caldwell ,SARAH REEVES, Principal Engineer, and KATI PETERSBURG, Senior Engineer, Brown and Caldwell
Blog: Team Brown Caldwell Blog

Day Zero:
Jack is excited about the carpooling challenge. He sees as an opportunity to make friends and help the environment. I can see he is a social kind of guy and hope the Kati and Sarah can keep up. Jack knows all about the different options available to commuters. Sarah and Kati are glad to be carpooling. They are glad to help the environment and save money on gas. They are wondering how they are going to coordinate schedules with kids. That is always a tough one, but is manageable. Let's see how they handle the day to day carpool routine. I can see they are all going to have to be flexible to make this work.

Day One:
This day is good for these carpoolers. Giving up kids to their caretakers in the morning is tough but doable. The carpoolers all like to talk about the goings on at work. The carpool is the new water cooler. There is a lot to talk about with the company picnic fresh on everyone's mind. Another good thing with having multiple people in the car is that it offers some helping hands in case some work needs to be shared, like bringing in the leftover picnic supplies.

Day Two:
Today brought some challenges for these carpoolers. When kids are thrown into the mix comprimises must be made. Many people fail to want to comprimise, but for this group they were able to get by. Today there was an accident at daycare and they needed Sarah to pick up the kid. Sometimes you have to try to get your carpool out early to help, or better yet, be creative and think of having the signifigant other pick up the child. If all else fails you can just tell the daycare they are going to have to wait for you. If you are totally concerned you can actually arrange another ride to pick up the kid. The fact is, in our normal day to day activitie we do not have many emergencies come up that stop us from carpooling. This group showed that they can adjust.

Day Three:
Another missed carpool today. This time Jack had to go in early. One thing about carpooling is a cell phone is a must. Emergencies sometimes happen, although they are pretty rare. It is so much better to let the other party know before the day begins that something is going to happen. A backup plan should be made. Kati forgot her work and they had to go back and get it. Sometimes that happens. However, a majority of times it doesn't. GMA should follow up with them after a month. I think they will discover that day to day routines get set and the carpoolers will be used to things.

Team Allegro - Worcester, Mass.

Members: LARRY WOOD, CLARENCE NICHOLS, JIM MCCLAY, JOHN PYLE, Allegro MicroSystems
Blog: Team Allegro Blog

Day Zero:
This carpool is an old and growing carpool. Larry started it and found co-workers to ride with. That is very key to have a successful carpool, trying to get your coworkers involved. Over time Larry and Clarence added more people. They enjoy the gas savings and now have a full car. They should be easy to track and are veterans. Sometimes, if you are new to carpooling it is best to team up with someone who has experience.

Day One:
This team took the time to create a PDF of how much money they save by carpooling. You can view it here. You can see that if normal gas for 4 people is $270 that you can cut that down to $67.75 per person to carpool. Talk about savings. This is skewed because one person drives a truck which get 7 miles to the gallon while the other drives a motorcycle, which only needs 1 gallon to get to work. Money is the number 1 reason why people carpool. Their carpool resulted in a cost savings of $207.00 to $304.00 per week. Now that is good.

Day Two:
This team likes to look at the big picture, money savings. "Up front, lets look at the numbers: Prior to joining the "car-pool bunch", a full week's work commute consisted of driving 220 miles at a cost of $45/week (21mpg @ $4.10/gallon). Subsequent to joining the "car-pool bunch," real-time driving decreased to 90 miles/week; accordingly, decreasing travel cost to $17/week (~63% reduction). So a quick yearly glance at savings (best-case), we are looking at $1400 of in pocket cash. Adding in maintenenance, a total cost savings (travel + car maintenance) of $1674/year is achieved. "

Day Three:
This carpool sees the benifits and are glad to finally be getting back to normal gas prices. They say,"It can be all good when considering: Monetary Savings, Environmental Impact, Enjoy meeting new Co-Workers, Overall Safety improvements with fewer cars on the road, Performing a good neighbor community service, Carpooling requires a team effort. Team building is always helpful in the work environment. "

Team Metametrix - Atlanta, Ga.

Members: KRIS LEFEBVRE, BRYANT, AUGIE, MICHAEL, EVE , Metametrix
Blog: Team Metametrix Blog

Day Zero:
Kris started carpooling a month ago and is surprised at how easy and fun carpooling can be. Each co-worker brings something to the conversation and makes a usually boring ride into a social time. Bryant can tell them all about what has happened in the world of sports. Augie is the political junkie and can talk radio talk and let them know what is going on in the world of politics. Michael can talk about fixing things and bicycles and Eve is the smart PHD of the group. Carpooling can offer a world of diverse friendships if you let it.

Day One:
Bryant talks about how much he likes his carpool. He drives an SUV and the gas prices are hitting him hard. That is true of millions of drivers out there. People just do not have the cash on hand to buy a new hybrid. Now Bryant feels better that he is saving money and is a little more eco-friendly. He does notice that he is stuck at work now and can't go get food on break, but this can be a good thing. A successful carpool is only successful if you have the right point of view and Bryant has that.

Day Three:
"I have to say that carpooling with my coworkers has become a very enjoyable experience and we all miss the carpool when the odd occasion comes up and we don't get the chance to ride together. "

These are the stories of some of millions of carpoolers who drive to work with someone else on a day to day basis. If you would like to get involved and carpool click REGISTER and begin your journey. RideSearch.com is a free nationwide carpool service.