Students facilitate carpools over Facebook

CLEMSON, S.C. – For those feeling the stress of finding a ride home for upcoming holidays, a new Facebook application may help relieve those worries. The application, called Carpool, allows users to post where they plan to travel so others without a means of transportation can find rides home. \nThe Carpool application is functional in the United States, Canada and England and can be accessed through MySpace accounts as well. \nEven though the application launched just this past summer, it has already reached the status of most popular online ride sharing service in North America, according to zimride.com, the Web site of Carpool’s origination. \nCollege campuses have embraced the application, where it has begun to replace traditional “ride boards” that students used to post paper destination requests in search of a carpool. \nLogan Green, the creator of Carpool and recent graduate of University of California at Santa Barbara, is pleased with how the application has been received by the college community. Green calls the growth “unprecedented.” \n“It shows that not all popular Facebook applications have to involve ninjas and vampires,” Green said. “An application like Carpool helps students find safe rides in addition to cutting their gas expenses and reducing (carbon dioxide). And it’s clear students value that.” \nWith Facebook filling the role of virtual social epicenter of college students’ lives, creators of Carpool could not have chosen a better means by which to promote the application. \nIn fact, more than 10,000 rides have been posted on Carpool in less than four months. \nIn addition to finding a ride home, students can conduct a mock “background check” on the person offering the ride. Personal information can also be regulated using security controls on the Facebook Web site. \nCarpool will also facilitate communication between those wishing to ride with one another, allowing people to even set a price to charge for gas and other transportation expenses. \nThe application works with other Facebook applications so people can search for rides to an event. \nTo ensure accurate destination descriptions, Carpool uses Google Maps technology to match students traveling with the same destination in mind. After carpooling, users are recommended to leave feedback, describing their experience to inform future riders. The application aims to make ride sharing a more social and accessible experience. \n“It really feels like I’m part of a community,” said Meredith Hoffman, a junior at Cornell University and a user of Carpool. “Using Carpool on Facebook, I can choose to ride with people in my school who I know I can trust.”