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Here are all of the reasons you haven't been part of a carpool or vanpool up until now:

* Your kids' sports practices and games mean you have to go home via school.

* Your work schedule isn't regular, and your boss always has last-minute things for you to do.

* You don't know anyone near you with whom to commute.

* You work the second or third shift.

* You live on the back side of beyond.

* You have elderly parents who sometimes get sick and need your help in the middle of the day.

* You can't get through your commute without a smoke.

Here's the reason you might want to seriously consider vanpooling or carpooling now:

* $4 per gallon gasoline.

It's getting more and more expensive for individuals to drive to work alone in their cars. In a New York Times analysis published on Monday, rural Maine was singled out among the northeastern states for being most strongly affected by the escalation in gas prices. That's because folks to the south and west of us often drive shorter distances to get to work and they do so in smaller, more fuel-efficient cars than do many rural Mainers, who use trucks and big cars.

We can't all go out and sell our big vehicles and buy smaller ones. Who's going to take the V-8 in trade these days? And just get in line for the downsized, more fuel-efficient cars; local Honda dealers, for example, can't even keep the new, high-gas-mileage Honda Fit in stock because there's been such demand for it.

We also can't rely on the generosity of employers like one Connecticut boss who issued his employees American Express cards and told them they could charge up to 100 bucks worth of gas every month to his account.

But we can change our behavior. Way back in the 1970s, during that decade's gas crisis, there was a lot of talk about commuters joining together and riding to work in groups of three and four. That happened for a while, and states helped the effort along by establishing carpool lanes on highways where commuter congestion was a problem.

But somewhere along the way, we lost our national will to conserve gas. Carpool lanes that once required three occupants in a vehicle lowered that standard down to two passengers. Cars got bigger and bigger and bigger, and the ponytailed soccer mom driving her white Hummer all by herself (while sipping a latte) became almost a national symbol.

Here in Maine, that symbol was a little more down to earth -- say, a Bath Iron Works employee driving by himself to his job in his Ford F150, getting 15 miles to the gallon.

And each of us had our highly credible excuses for why we sat alone in our cars, driving to work.

Yet there have been pockets of resistance to our gas-guzzling behavior. Prime among those efforts in our state have been the good folks at GoMaine, based in Portland, who have long provided (according to their Web site) "services and information to commuters and other travelers who live, work or travel in the State of Maine," including a vanpool and carpool program. They have just recently announced the addition of three new vanpooling routes to the 14 existing routes in the state. The new vanpools will shuttle workers between three different routes: Augusta/Lewiston, Newport/Augusta, and Portland/Lewiston.

And GoMaine has figured out how to get around a few of the biggest obstacles to joining with others on a commute.

They've got an "Emergency Ride Home" program that allows for a free taxi ride or rental car home in case you have a workday emergency. They'll work with employers to help spread information among staff about carpooling and vanpooling options, including choices for those working second and third shift. They've got information about tax advantages for employers to help out employees who use smart and efficient commuting. They run a Web site that matches up would-be carpoolers and vanpoolers.

Right now, Mainers are feeling victimized by high gas prices. And there's very little within our power as individuals that will force gas prices down. What we can do is cut back on how much gas we use. While carpooling and vanpooling may mean a significant change in how each of us lives our lives, we're at a point where not doing so could mean less food to eat or the inability to pay for medicines. And that's not a choice any of us wants to face.