Carpooling is one of the most effective ways to reduce traffic and emissions—and it can be one of the most rewarding ways to earn credits in GoCarma. Because multiple people share a single vehicle, the system treats these trips differently from other modes like walking, biking, or transit.
This article explains how carpool verification works, why credits are shared among riders, and how the math behind carpool credits is calculated.
How Carpooling Is Verified
To confirm that a real carpool took place, every person in the vehicle should:
Have the GoCarma app installed
Carry their own phone during the trip
Have Bluetooth enabled
Have Location Services enabled (set to Always Allow)
Review the menu → Privacy → App Permissions screen to ensure permissions are correctly granted to the app.
GoCarma then verifies a carpool by checking that:
Phones traveled together along the same route
Phones stayed close to each other throughout the trip
Only when all conditions are met does the system classify the trip—or the relevant part of the trip—as an eligible carpool segment.
Why Carpool Credits Are Shared
A carpool reduces the number of vehicles on the road—but it doesn’t eliminate one vehicle per person. Instead, it eliminates one vehicle per extra confirmed rider.
For example:
Two people sharing one car reduces one vehicle.
Three people sharing one car reduces two vehicles.
Four people sharing one car reduces three vehicles, and so on.
Because that reduction is shared across all riders, the credit is also shared proportionally among everyone confirmed in the carpool.
This is important for fairness and to ensure compliance with transportation and CEQA guidelines. The goal is to reflect the actual reduction in vehicle miles traveled (VMT), not to over-credit a large group riding together.
How Carpool Credits Are Calculated
Carpool credits apply only to the carpool segments of a commute. If part of the trip is carpool and part is solo driving, only the carpool portion generates shared credits.
Here’s how it works:
Determine how many commuters are in the vehicle
Calculate how many vehicles were avoided
Multiply the avoided vehicles by the distance traveled
Divide the result equally among all verified riders
Carpool Credit Sharing Table
Number of people in the car | Vehicles reduced | Total VMT reduced per mile | Credit per person per mile |
2 riders | 1 | 1 mile saved | 0.5 miles each |
3 riders | 2 | 2 miles saved | ~0.67 miles each |
4 riders | 3 | 3 miles saved | 0.75 miles each |
Example
If three commuters carpool 10 miles together:
Vehicles reduced: 2
Total VMT reduced: 2 × 10 = 20 miles
Each commuter earns: 20 ÷ 3 ≈ 6.67 miles of credit
You’ll see these credits reflected in your trip summary after processing.
How Carpool Credits Differ from Other Modes
Other modes earn credits differently:
Walking, biking, or transit typically receive full credit for the distance traveled
Telework earns credit for avoiding your entire baseline trip
Driving alone earns no credits
Carpooling is unique because:
It earns credits only for verified shared travel
Credits are split, not fully awarded to each person
It depends on confirming multiple phones traveling together
Key Takeaways
Carpooling earns credits based on shared vehicle reduction—not distance alone.
Credits increase with more riders, but are split among the group.
Every rider must have the app installed and permissions enabled for verification.
Only the carpool portion of the trip earns shared credits.
If you ever think a carpool was classified incorrectly, you can request a trip review directly in the app.