It was 7:50 in the morning, and like most office workers Ms Li Fei was already heading for work. However, instead of going to the underground car park to start up her car, she went straight to the roadside, where a Ford Focus arrived shortly and picked her up for work.

"Many workmates carpool to the office every day. It reduces the cost, as well as the wear and tear on your car," Li Fei explained.

Carpooling is the shared use of a car by the driver and one or more passengers, usually for commuting. With its obvious advantages of economy and convenience, carpooling has a growing appeal for many office workers.

With a view to promoting economical and environmentally-friendly means of commuting, and combating rising traffic congestion, a pilot organized carpooling operation was launched recently in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

According to the regulations, people can apply either to the neighborhood committee or to the administrative department in their company. However, only car owners are entitled to apply for carpooling, and charges are forbidden for the time being.

Since its launch, the carpooling program has won the support of a multitude of advocates.

"It's economical and convenient to carpool, and it's great fun too. People can amuse themselves by chatting with their fellow carpoolers. Having someone to talk to is definitely better than an FM," said Ms Yu, a carpooler.

However, many people remain hesitant--worries about a lack of legal protection and safety control might create potential obstacles to the idea.

In spite of the fact that formal carpool projects have been around in a structured form since the mid-1970s in developed countries, schemes in China lack formal rules or regulations and are still in their infancy. The consequences are controversies about issues like service charges and security concerns.

To address such issues, more than six specialized conferences have been held and numerous opinion surveys have been conducted in Hangzhou.

"Carpooling is an efficient means to combat rising traffic congestion. It reduces not only driving costs, but also greenhouse gas emissions," said Wang Zhibang, a researcher from the Zhejiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. "Carpooling is an established practice in western countries, and single-occupancy cars on the street during the rush hour may even attract a fine. Carpooling programmes are clearly beneficial both to individuals and to society in the long run," he added.

(China.org.cn by Zheng Xin, March 2, 2009)