A Freeway-Wars Mercenary Hitches On to a Good Thing

The Costa Mesa Freeway has become a road of conflict. Caltrans claims that the car-pool lane is a success. Citizen groups claim that it is unfair and dangerous. In the heat of any controversy there always will be factors that go unnoticed by either side. I had lunch with one of those factors last week.

The small waterfront cafe was crowded. The man asked to share my table. He was dressed in beach-type clothes and carried a suit bag. I asked if he had just come from the cleaners.

“No,” he replied. “I carry these to change into before I go back to work.”

“What do you do?” I asked.

“I’m a professional car-pooler.”

“A car-pooler?”

“Yes, that’s right, a professional car-pooler.”

Still not sure what he meant, I ventured that he might organize car-pools for commuters.

“No, I’m the second person who rides along so the commuter can use the car-pool lane.”

Mom was right, I really shouldn’t talk to strangers. I sat, hoping petty deception was the extent of his eccentricity. My silence seemed to encourage him, and he continued his ruse.

“I start in Orange. My first client lives there and works in Irvine. He drops me off on Culver just north of the San Diego Freeway. My next client, who lives in Irvine, picks me up there. We take the 405 to the 55, get into the car-pool lane and drive to his office in Anaheim. Client No. 3 meets me at the corner of Lincoln and Tustin. We drive south to her job in Newport Beach. I shop or go to the beach until 3 o’clock, catch a bus to Irvine and do the morning in reverse.”

I was starting to believe him. When you consider that dog-walking, house-sitting and cleaning Mercedes engines with toothbrushes are now respectable occupations, this isn’t so bizarre.

“Do you drive your clients?” I asked.

“No, other people’s driving is just one factor that forced them out of traditional car-pools. In a traditional car-pool, you get potluck. You might be gliding to work in a large, comfortable, luxury sedan. But more typically, a commuter finds himself in an older, economy wagon that was used last weekend for a family fishing trip. Sitting on a small dead crustacean first thing Monday morning isn’t a pleasant way to start the week. I give them an alternative. My clients are in the higher levels of management. They usually are provided a car, but don’t rate a chauffeur and limo yet.

“I cater to their tastes and needs. They may request I don’t discuss their work. They may want me to bring coffee and doughnuts for the drive. I’ll even screen their car phone calls for an additional fee. My clients save time, arrive in a better frame of mind and help Caltrans to think they finally have a winner.”

Impressive, an individual turning to his advantage a situation that has brought only irritation to many commuters. I could think of only one more question. “What did you do before the car-pool lane came to Orange County?”

“Well,” he asked, “do you remember gas lines?”