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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "+//ISBN 0-9673008-1-9//DTD OEB 1.0 Document//EN"
+  "http://openebook.org/dtds/oeb-1.0/oebdoc1.dtd">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/x-oeb1-document; charset=utf-8" />
+<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/x-oeb1-css" href="DrBillBio.css" />
+<title>Bill Wattenburg’s Background: Better Carpooling</title>
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+<h1>Dial-A-Ride Carpooling</h1>
+
+<h2>(1973)</h2>
+
+<p>Bill Wattenburg upstaged the government bureaucracies during the 1973 energy
+crisis when the U.S. Energy Department proposed spending millions to organize
+all the state departments of motor vehicles across the country to use their
+files on motorists to match up citizens for carpools. They told Congress that
+they needed at least fifty million to subsidize the state agencies so that they
+could write the special computer programs required to do this within eighteen
+months. Wattenburg announced that the telephone companies could do the same
+thing immediately—at no extra cost to the taxpayers. And he proved it with a
+simple experiment.</p>
+
+<p>The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wattenburg’s idea on December 22, 1973.
+He pointed out that a person’s telephone numbers at home and at work were all
+that was needed to match him up with the nearest other person who drove
+approximately the same route. The telephone companies had all the address data
+for every telephone number. Their computer programs were ready to do the job
+with very little modification. All the government had to do was ask them. And,
+it wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a dime.</p>
+
+<p>He suggested that a person who wanted a carpool partner could simply dial a
+special “carpool” request code into his telephone and provide his work
+number. The telephone company, for a small charge, could then send him a list of
+all others who drove a similar route. Officials from Pacific Telephone Company
+in San Francisco agreed that Wattenburg was right. They said they would do it.</p>
+
+<p>The czar of the energy department appeared to like the idea and promised to
+implement it, but nothing official was announced. We asked Bill Wattenburg
+whatever happened to this neat idea. He told us:</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>“All the state departments of motor vehicles were already counting the
+millions they had been promised from Washington. Some powerful congressmen
+complained that my idea was illegal according to the consent decree that
+prohibited telephone companies from using their computers to process data. It
+was stupid, but the Justice Department was never formally asked to waive the
+prohibition. The federal pork barrel money was sent out as promised.</p>
+
+<p>“However, most of the state motor vehicle people realized that my scheme was a
+lot easier and more comprehensive because the telephone company data is always
+far more complete than address data in the motor vehicle files. So, they just
+got the files from the telephone company that they needed and did the same
+thing. Obviously, they used the millions they got from Washington to pay for
+other things. The sad part is that most people still can’t simply use their
+telephones to arrange carpooling with the ease that should be available to them
+everywhere. But, California does this with a special 800 number.</p>
+
+<p>“As always, the state bureaucracies invented forms that people have to fill
+out to make a carpool request. This discourages most. But it keeps a lot of
+idiot bureaucrats busy. The people who could benefit the most from carpooling
+are not going to allow themselves to be matched up with other people by the
+government. And they avoid giving personal information to the government.
+However, most trust the telephone company.”</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>We asked Wattenburg what he thought about not getting any official
+recognition for this. His answer was: “Ah, what the hell. That’s the usual
+case when you deal with bureaucrats. They know I made them do what I wanted. I
+made them jump. That’s good enough.”</p>
+
+</body>
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