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Everybody in the Carpool: Ride Sharing

APRIL 9, 2009

Modern technology makes it easy to share the ride and share the road

Commuting to work in your own set of wheels may not be as easy or enjoyable as it sounds but ride sharing makes it a breeze, cutting down on drive time, fuel costs and fumes.

511NY is New York State's official traffic and travel source, letting commuters know what their ride-sharing and alternative commuting options are. A free matching service uses an interactive map to hook up commuters headed in the same direction and there are vanpooling services for groups of 7-15.

Ride sharing sites like NuRide use the connecting power of the internet to match commuters. Unlike traditional car pools, members can just show up at designated locations and choose whom they want to ride with. As encouragement, the service offers rewards like dinner discounts and free car washes.

For the more free-spirited (and perhaps more brave), "casual carpooling" follows a similar model without the structure of membership. Sites like mycasualcarpool.com explain themselves as "a hybrid of rideshare commuting and hitchhiking." Commuters meet at parking lots in their neighborhoods based on when they're traveling and the direction they're headed, and the spontaneity cuts down on wait time.