Do you make long, lonely and expensive daily commutes? Social media has placed a different twist on the concept of ride sharing. Using a familiar tool like Facebook in conjunction with a new website called Zimride, drivers can easily hook up with other commuters who are looking for a ride. The service has over 350,000 users, has programs on 125 university campuses and has saved $50 million in vehicle operation expenses since its inception.
How Zimride Started
Logan Green, co-founder of Zimride, wanted to visit his girlfriend in Los Angeles, but didn’t have a car, so he took to sharing rides. He had been employing Craiglist’s ride boards to solicit those rides, but was often anxious because he did not know the passenger or driver.
At the same time, on the other side of the country, John Zimmer, the other co-founder of Zimride, had a car but was inspired by his car’s empty seats during his regular commute from Upstate New York to New York City. Observing that 80% of the seats on American highways go empty, Zimmer insists that ride sharing, “is a huge opportunity to create efficiency to save a lot of money and to reduce our environmental footprint.”
Zimmer and Green met through a mutual friend and got to know each other on Facebook. The name of the company they started is based on the country of Zimbabwe, in which Green had noticed locals developing a grassroots public transportation system.
How Zimride Works
Users access Zimride through their Facebook account, and develop their profile on the Zimride system. When a driver posts available seats in his or her car, along with their drive time habits like smoking and musical tastes, potential passengers can find a match to get to their destination. Zimride may connect people who work at the same company, attend the same school, or have mutual friends on Facebook. In so doing, the anxiety of ridesharing with a stranger is significantly reduced. When looking back on why carpooling had failed in the past, Zimmer said that the number one reason was a lack of trust.
Drivers decide what to charge their passengers. Zimride suggests charges based on the cost of gasoline. Passengers can pay with PayPal or credit card, and will receive a full refund if the driver fails to pick up. Zimride users are predominantly women.
University Zimride Programs
Washington State University has posted nearly 3.5 million miles on the program. The WSU Zimride program requires participants to have a wsu.edu email address. .
“Zimride is a fun and easy way to share the seats in your car or catch a ride,” the WSU Zimride website explains. “With Zimride, you can find WSU friends, classmates, and coworkers going the same way you are. WSU Zimride helps you offer or request rides for commutes, road trips, and popular events. If you have a car, split costs by offering rides. If you don’t have a car, find rides where you need to go.”
At the end of February 2012, Illinois State University implemented a Zimride program. The university “did not have any program for carpooling or ridesharing, until Zimride,” explains Julie Ellen North, the Director of Parking & Transportation. “I think we have done pretty well.”
“Zimride helped me find a group of people who have been carpooling for over 6 months,” said Bridget (last name withheld), a member of the ISU staff. “We now have 4 of us who meet and carpool 50 miles a day. We are carpooling 5 days a week for a total of 250 miles. We alternate drivers, which means we each have to drive only 1 week each month. On weeks I don’t drive, I am able to reduce my fuel use by 9 ½ gallons. So, I see a savings of approximately $37 on the weeks I don’t have to drive.”
Looking at the numbers, as of the end of December 2012, the Illinois State Zimride program had 476 users and 356 ride posts. These posts consisted of 127 commutes and 229 one-time rides. Illinois State has estimated a fuel savings for their community of 5,545 gallons.
But the benefits of a Zimride program can be even greater than just financial or environmental. “Zimride is most helpful on more than one count,” said Shirley (last name withheld), another ISU staff member. “Initially, I am simply thrilled to be able to conserve gas on road trips to work. Secondly, I am riding with an amazing woman! Thanks ISU!”
Julie North says, “I commute about 60 miles a day and I was fortunate to Zimride with a student during Spring semester of last year. Our motto is ‘Roll With Us.’”