With average gas prices peaking over $4, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can save money by carpooling. Even though the savings associated with carpooling is clear to me and my carpool partner some people may not realize exactly how much you can save by carpooling.

Thankfully RideSearch.com provides a great calculator to figure out just how much it costs you to schlep to and from work each month. The calculator even takes the maintenance costs of your vehicle into the final cost calculation. The calculator is only one tool they provide, the main draw is that you can use RideSearch.com to find other people to carpool with.

The service helps connect you with carpoolers in the area and takes into account a myriad of preferences for sorting and finding carpool partners. For example you can set your preferences to indicate you only want to share rides with females who don't smoke, have working air conditioning and will alternate days of driving. Of course the more restrictions you start adding in to the mix the fewer applicants will be remaining.
I currently carpool with one person, but as I tell others about carpooling the interest is rising. I think the calculator may be the information that convinces them to join my carpool. While carpooling with one co-worker is pretty simple, if we add anyone else the "Foundations for successful carpooling", which RideSearch provides will go a logn way in creating a long term ride solution. The only downside I find with RideSearch is that you have to register and provide your carpool preferences before you can even search the service. I understand that this will help build the pool of carpoolers but it would be nice to get a quick look at how many people are in your area before signing up.

Are you a carpooler? How do you make it work and where did you find your carpool partner?