Meaning & use
car pooling
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
An arrangement in which several people share one car for regular trips, such as to work or school, to save cost and reduce traffic.
Grammar: Not counted: car pooling saves money.
Patterns
- car pooling to work
- car pooling with someone
Car pooling cut our commuting costs by half.
The school encourages car pooling to reduce traffic at drop-off time.
Car pooling works best when everyone lives near each other.
Common combinations
- car pooling scheme
- The office started a car pooling scheme last spring.
- encourage car pooling
- The city encourages car pooling with special lanes.
- car pooling app
- She found her ride through a car pooling app.
- car pooling lane
- Car pooling lanes move faster in rush hour.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ride sharing
- Ride sharing is broader and can include paid apps, whereas car pooling usually means friends or colleagues sharing a regular trip.
- car sharing
- Car sharing often means renting a shared vehicle by the hour, which differs from car pooling.
- lift sharing
- Lift sharing is a British phrase for the same idea.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: car pooling or car sharing?
car pooling vs car sharing
Car sharing means renting a car for short periods, whereas car pooling means riding together in one car.
Practice
Which activity is an example of car pooling?
Choose one answer.
Car pooling means sharing one car for a regular trip. Renting, taxis and buying a car do not involve sharing a regular journey.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “car pooling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.