Students looking to save money or lessen their impact on the environment might look into carpool organizing Web sites that are popping up on the Internet. Many of these Web sites target college-aged commuters. They match users who are going in the same direction at the same time. Logan Green, creator of a Facebook.com carpooling application, said he started using the Web site craigslist.org to find carpool buddies. “There’s always this anxiety before meeting them,” Green said. “I knew that if I felt that anxiety and had done it regularly, it would never be mainstream or appeal to a wide range of people.” When Facebook became popular, Green said he knew he had found a solution to that anxiety. “This was the missing link, the perfect opportunity to make it really safe and really comfortable no matter how risk-averse you are,” Green said. Facebook presented the first authentic online identity that made it possible for people to establish trust and share rides, he said. The application, Zimride, now has over 300,000 users and 15,000 ride posts. Green said college students are the primary users. He said Cornell University was the first campus to really pick up the application, and it has become a reliable form of transportation there. Green said Zimride is the safest way to carpool via the Internet, though Craig’s List is the biggest rideshare online. He said it is comforting to be able to screen possible rides by determining whether the person works for a legitimate company or goes to a particular school. “We’ve heard nothing but positive stories,” he said. “I think it’s been very successful at keeping people safe.” Matt Davis, civil engineering junior, said he would be hesitant to use a carpooling Web site. “I’d rather know the person before I get in the car with them,” Davis said. Most Web sites allow users to rate other members after riding with them. But for some students, that is not enough security. Davis said he might use a carpooling application on Facebook.com to find a ride with a friend rather than a stranger. Even the University has a carpooling tool available to students. Ride Share, located in the PAWS toolbar, is a little-known and underused instrument. Only four students have posted carpooling notices in the Austin, Texas, Fort Myers, Fla., Lafayette and Metarie areas. Green said the benefits are obvious: saving money, helping the environment and having fun. But he said it is also nice to meet people at school or work to share a morning commute or a trip home. “It makes the drive and commuting a lot more tolerable,” he said. Davis said potential scheduling conflicts with carpoolers might make the process difficult. He said it would be nice if more people would carpool on Tuesdays and Thursdays to relieve parking problems. “It’d be a lot better if more people carpooled – a lot less headache for parking,” he said.
—-Contact Emily Holden at [email protected]