Free Gas Money and Be Chauffered to Work?

San Mateo County is offering residents and commuters the opportunity to carpool and get paid for it!

You just have to commit to carpool for a minimum of two days a week, for at least 8 weeks. $60/person for standard cars, $80/person for hybrids. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Sign up here: http://www.commute.org/CarpoolApplication.asp

The only other requirement is what it says on the web site: "If you currently drive alone, and you commute to, from or through San Mateo County, we invite you to try carpooling to work."

So here's an interview question: How many people is that?

How Much Is a Mobile User Worth?

Last week I tried taking the train to work for the third time or so, training myself on the new routine. I took the 8:27 from San Antonio station on this beautiful sunny California morning. It would be 30 minutes to the San Mateo station, and another 5-minute leisurely walk to the office on Third. Plenty of time for an important 9:30 meeting.

Or so I thought.

8:56 My train went right past San Mateo. Having experienced commute train service elsewhere, it took me 5 seconds to realize I was on an express train. It took considerably longer to decide what to do. That 9:30 meeting could not be missed! Could I get off at some appropriate station beyond and catch a southbound back to San Mateo? Would I still make my 9:30 meeting?

8:59 My train pulled into the Millbrae station. I could see a southbound pulling in from the other direction, perhaps just about 30 seconds ahead of ours. I rushed to the door, willing it to open. The southbound was still on the platform. Following signs, I ran up the stairs, through the overhead walkway, back down on the opposite platform, just in time to watch the southbound depart right on time, at 9:02. Missed it by a hair.

9:03 Do I call someone from the office to come out and pick me up? My sister, who lives nearby? Maybe I should just call a taxi. Just then I caught sight of a taxi line. "How long to reach San Mateo from here?" I asked. "Just 10 minutes," said the driver. "How much?" "About $20. We'll go by the meter."

Ouch.

9:15 About 10 minutes, 1 very enjoyable chat, and 2 handshakes with a self-described Persian-solar-engineer-on-a-temporary-cab-driving gig later, I was in front of our office building. I would make my 9:30 meeting.

This whole episode reminded me of something. Certainly the Googles and eBays and Alibabas of the world have made discovering and connecting supply to demand so much more efficient, and in the process have cut distributor margins to the bone. I would never pay $40+tax+travel for that Rustic Pewter Kwikset door handle that I can reliably get on eBay for $7 net, delivered. But the premium given to locality and immediacy have not diminished---not for a long time to those of us still living in space and time. We're still willing to pay $1 for a quarter to feed that parking meter at 3rd-and-B, a 100% premium for that last-minute ticket to see Hannah Montana Live at the HP Pavillion. If anything, the value ratio between the here-and-now over the there-and-later is probably expanding.

There are things for which we will still pay a significant premium, and we will pay because we need it here, and we need it now. This violates no efficient-market hypotheses. My train commute averages to about $2 per ride. And that urgent short hop from Millbrae to San Mateo cost a good $22.

So the next time someone asks you how much a mobile web user is worth compared to a desktop web user, you can tell them confidently, "Empirical evidence suggests that it's 11X."

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080424 Update: someone forwarded me a news clipping containing this timely article from Sid Yadav at rev2.org that I have to place in the this-guy-gets-it bin.