Duo launches carpooling website
Published Thursday August 21st, 2008
Two friends who saw a lot of people travelling in cars alone have developed a website that will help the environment, help people save money and maybe provide the pair with a thriving business.
University of New Brunswick student Marc Merhebi and his friend Phil Brideau, a student at the Moncton campus of the New Brunswick Community College, are the masterminds behind atlanticcarpool.com, a regional carpooling-message service.
They launched the online venture together late last month, and they've already seen some interest.
The site features more than 30 listings from around Atlantic Canada from people looking to carpool within a community or for longer-distance rides.
Brideau got the idea for the website when he was travelling between Moncton and Fredericton and saw that most cars on the highway had a lone occupant.
He figured it was a shame more people weren't carpooling between the hub city and the capital.
"Especially with gas prices where they are now," he said.
Brideau talked to Merhebi about the issue, and they agreed a website that could bring people together for carpooling - for short and long distances - might be the answer.
It's a free service, Merhebi said, but they've got an eye toward accepting advertising down the road.
He said there seems to be a viable business model in atlanticcarpool.com, but that's not why he and Brideau set it up.
"We weren't thinking about money," he said.
It's the environmental philosophy they share that drove them to develop the website, Merhebi said.
Carpooling not only cuts down on emissions, he said, but it can benefit people financially.
They'd be spending less money on gas, he said, and motorists who planned on travelling solo could find carpoolers to share on costs.
People have happened upon the website through word of mouth and a posting on kijiji.com, Merhebi said.
Demand is bound to increase, he said, because students are about to head back to school and colder weather is only a few months away.
People are less likely to want to walk or bike to their destinations in colder weather, Merhebi said.
There are other carpool websites, he said, but they don't focus on a specific place or region, and that should allow atlanticcarpool.com to stand out.
Merhebi and Brideau said they eventually want to take the site nationwide.
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Other than this, I checked out the site. Looks like a good concept. Not very many users so far. I hope it picks up for them, on the flip side I hope they never start charging for making posts.