Talk:Tag:amenity=car pooling

Why not amenity=parking?

IMHO, it is the kind of parking. Something B (talk) 12:08, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

Because it’s not the same thing. Ashtez (talk) 12:20, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

What is the difference? In both cases, the car is temporarily left, the spaces are not assigned to specific drivers. Something B (talk) 12:29, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

But they are. In Switzerland you can only park there for carpooling. Ashtez (talk) 13:51, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

It is rather a property. Otherwise we would have amenity=private_parking instead of amenity=parking + access=private Something B (talk) 14:10, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

Propose adding a symbol to the map renderings

Car pooling stations are places that people may need to easily locate, yet there's no indication of their existence on the map renderings.
I propose that a symbol should therefore be added.
Perhaps the central car portion of this sign used in France, which looks sufficiently different to the symbol already used for car sharing stations (though, strangely, it only appears in the ÖPNVKarte layer). Xilix (talk) 17:35, 3 March 2022 (UTC) ‎

Types of carpooling

Uber/Lyft pickup point

Are this tag and carpool=* for any kind of carpooling? What about:

• Slug-lines and flexible carpooling stations
• Designated pickup points for ride sharing companies like Uber/Lyft/Grab, especially at airports
• Designated drop-off areas in front of large POIs like shopping malls, cinemas, and places of worship

 – Minh Nguyễn ^💬 08:00, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

No, Uber and Lyft pickup is closer to a branded amenity=taxi (though amenity=taxi is about place where taxis wait - not only arrive, and you need to arrange for car with an app so also is not a match) Uber/Lyft is not a carpool, it is taxi service operating in unusual way (unless it works differently in various countries?). Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 08:56, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Unfortunately the "ride-sharing" word has plagued and ingrained. "Ride-hailing" is less worse, although you can't hail on street. Ride-hiring might be more accurate. They compete with for-hire vehicles afterall. --- Kovposch (talk) 09:31, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

It can certainly be "abused" for pick-up and drop-off of any vehicle. --- Kovposch (talk) 09:25, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Agreed; it is distinct from all those.

For interest, I'd add that this topic is somewhat confusing from the British / French perspective as the terminology used is entirely different from the US / Canada.

'Car pooling' as used this side of the Atlantic equates to 'covoiturage' in France - a driver selling otherwise unused seats on a trip that the driver already plans to make - which is very popular (20 million subscribers in France + 80 million in other countries for the market-leading brand); in the UK this type of travel is largely unknown, so there is no common term for the activity (ride-sharing would make sense, but that is already taken as below);

Uber and the like are classed as 'private hire vehicles' in the UK and the activity is mostly called 'ride-sharing' (and certainly not car-pooling) / in France they're 'voiture de transport avec chauffeur' (car with driver) and activity is 'hiring a VTC'.

In the UK a 'car pool' is a fleet of vehicles, normally provided by an employer, that employees may borrow as-and-when necessary in the course of their work...

- Xilix (talk)

@Xilix: Covoiturage sounds more or less like the traditional meaning of carpooling in the U.S. too, with slugging and hacking as the gray-market versions of that. Americans don't call Uber/Lyft "carpooling" either, but they are allowed to use carpool lanes etc. I only ask because there doesn't seem to be a satisfying tag for these designated pickup points.

amenity=taxi sounds elegant, but there was concern in Proposed features/Tag:amenity=motorcycle_taxi about co-opting amenity=taxi in that manner. It could be surprising because "taxi" and "taxi stand" have such a specific meaning. It reminds me of how we're kind of stuck with FedEx and UPS stores as amenity=post_office now, just because they have some post-adjacent services.

Actually, these pickup points are pretty rare outside of airports; from my perspective, the more pressing question is how to tag designated drop-off points in front of major POIs. These drop-off points aren't commercialized. For example, many schools have designated, signposted places for parents to drop off their children.

 – Minh Nguyễn ^💬 18:27, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

They're increasingly common in French towns and cities, and probably elsewhere in Europe. There are currently 8,646 recognised covoiturage points in France (Base Nationale des Lieux de Covoiturage (French Government data)), specifically for covoiturage and separate from 'taxi stands' and wherever Ubers pick up from, so IMHO there is a pressing need for them to be visible on the map - people need to identify where they're going to be picked up / dropped off in an unfamiliar town.

Of these, 1,150 have covoiturage in the title and I know that at least some of these are purpose-built; others are perhaps carved out of existing parking lots, but all would probably have short-term parking bays restricted to the purpose and perhaps seating and a shelter for passengers. The other 7,496 may be no more than a sign at a roadside parking bay.

As for school or similar drop-off points, in some parts of the World - Australia, parts of the UK - they may be known as kiss and drop bays / zones (a description that makes it clear that they're intended for picking up / dropping off people you know), or rapid drop-off bays (which doesn't) - also dépose minute (one-minute drop-off bays) in French. Maybe one of those would be suitable.

-Xilix (talk)