On Not Driving People for Free

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Years ago I would drive people to and from glocals activities for free. A diving friend of mine had excellent service. I drove to his home to pick him up, and then drive to dive sites. One day I decided that I wanted to go for a hike with a group, rather than a walk, so I went to Geneva, and asked two or three times, "Is it okay if I do this instead of that" and he said yes. I asked him two more times and he still said yes.

A day or two later he was furious with me, and tried to tarnish my reputation because he thought that I had let him down, that I owed him the drive. I didn’t owe anything. I was doing a favour for two friends that were doing a technical dive, and before committing to the other plan I asked two grown ups, are you okay with my change of plans and they said yes.

I could have just sent a text message with "i have other plans, find other transport" and it would have had the same impact, at the end of the day. I bring this up because there was a time when I hated asking people for financial contributions when I drove them to hikes, dives, climbs, and via ferratas. I felt that it was exploitative and ungenerous.

The thing about driving people is that adds hours to activities. If you pick people up in Geneva then you count half an hour to get in, and half an hour to get back out if you’re lucky. It also adds hours and hours of planning and logistics the day or night before any activity. I did this so often that now I do it with ease but at the same time my rule is simple.

If I pick people up I pick them up from Fourmi, from the CERN tram stop or as close to a motorway exit as possible. I also ask them for a financial contribution for petrol. Sometimes I picked people up from Nyon gare but that’s because it’s a tiny detour from where I live.

In the past it was a symbolic amount, based on how generous people were, rather than a set sum. Recently though, it has become formulaic. 70 centimes per kilometre, as a business expense, split between the number of occupants. If I was stingy I could charge people for the entire route but I don’t. I charge them for the part where they’re with me. On Sunday one person paid from Lausanne to Moléson-Sur-Gruyère and another paid from Vevey to Moléson-Sur-Gruyère.

I calculated that the drive for me was 145.6 CHF but then I calculated that the part from Lausanne Fourmi was half that, divided by two people, so just 40 CHF, but then I calculated that the segment from Vevey was 9 CHF so I was owed 9 CHF by that person, so 40 CHF became 31 CHF.

I got 41 CHF for driving others.

In the past I also had it calculated by how much it cost to refill the tank at the end but with modern cars, that’s a bad deal for the driver because a car like mine has a range of 800 km, especially with how I drive so 200km is about 20 CHF of petrol, or less.

Other people rented a car from Geneva airport to Moléson-Sur-Gruyère so split the cost by three as they were three people.

The drawback that I often encounter is that I do things with Geneva people so they make plans that are from Geneva to the location and as I drive from elsewhere I drive no one, so I have my costs, without sharing them. If I plan things that go via Geneva then I could pick people up, but not vice versa. That’s why it is good to have people from Lausanne and Vevey. If they join then I get to drive others, and I get to share costs with them.

What makes this year unique is not that we car shared, but that cost sharing is based on business expense practices, but also that the train has been used for linear, and even circular hikes. It’s because people wanted to head straight home that I got the half fare. By taking the train an event lasts until Nyon for me, and Geneva for others. By car the event ends as soon as people see that the train is there. They rush for the train and you’re left without a proper end to the event. I enjoy taking the train with others.