The Carpool count type is a recent addition to our ever-expanding set of tools for measuring human activity. In this case, you are looking INTO cars for humans and counting them. 

Like many pieces of CounterPoint, the carpool count was an idea emerged from our community of volunteer counters. This one was first suggested by Mr. Greg Griffin (Thanks Greg!). Greg is a traffic engineering professor and he needed a way for his students at a University in Texas, USA to measure vehicle occupancy and compliance with a new nearby carpool lane.

Now you too can figure out the occupancy level of cars whizzing by. Be warned, those in the business of transportation have a short form for “people in cars driving alone” for a reason SOVs (single occupancy vehicles). You might be saddened to discover how little all that metal and glass is being used. Its remarkable predictable too. Don’t be surprised if you see and average of around 1.2 people. The good news is that might mean lots of people who could be walking or biking instead. how you use the data is up to you, of course.

QUICK HOW TO

The idea here is pretty simple: observe traffic going by and tap the button that reflects how many occupants there are for each car/truck/van you observe  (including the driver of course!) When you’re done, you’ll get an average. Unlike some of the other counts, it isn’t really necessary to count every single one that goes by with a carpool count. You can miss the odd one or just randomly look into every few vehicles – especially when there is heavy traffic. Do it for long enough and you’ll get a decent sample that reflects what’s out there.