Students who return home at the end of each semester know all too well the potential stress in traveling back home, no matter how near or far. Carpooling is now being turned to as a viable source of transportation, using the major social networking tool Facebook as means of establishing rides back home while promoting environmental sustainability.
"Nobody wants to share a ride home anonymously, but if you can look at a person's profile (on Facebook), it's enough to make a good decision and make carpooling a comfortable experience," said Logan Green, founder of the Zimride service and carpooling Facebook application.
Zimride is a fully incorporated business which was started by, and is owned and run by students and recent graduates, according to Green. He looks back on the carpooling opportunities that he had as a college student and seeks to improve it in the future through networking.
"I lived without a car for a few years when I went to school in Santa Barbara," Green said. "I found rides on Craigslist and had really good experiences each time, although I always had a little bit of anxiety not knowing who was going to show up."
Facebook is a globally used networking tool, and with the ever increasing power of technology, has been made into a mainstream form of communication between students on college campuses and many others all over the world. According to Time's interview with Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, the site hosts 30 million active users and grows by 150,000 members daily.
The goal of Zimride is to combine the mainstream Internet networking application with those in search of alternative transportation or a way home, according to Green.
"The idea was born out of the idea that carpooling is such an important part of the solution toward more sustainable transportation, but the key elements of trust and comfort was missing," said John Zimmer, co-founder of the Facebook carpooling application.
The application allows students to reconnect with those with whom they have carpooled before, as well as those who can potentially provide or receive rides. Facebook allows users to see whom they will be riding with before they decide to join the ride or accept passengers, Green said.
According to Zimmer, the objective of Zimride and the Facebook application is not only to introduce the social component of carpooling, but also to impact the way we look at transportation, the environment and the larger national community by having an immediate impact on the number of cars on the road.
"We hope that using the service will demonstrate to students that being 'environmental' does not have to be inconvenient and involve making a sacrifice, but can actually improve ones quality of life," Zimmer said. "Once adopted on a large scale, the application will reduce national carbon dioxide emissions by millions of pounds and will demonstrate the power of the individual and a collective community built around trust." Those who wish to become more active in the carpooling initiative can also act as campus representatives, according to Zimmer.
"We're trying to find people who are passionate about sustainability," Zimmer said. "Campus representatives provide extra initiative and are in charge of publicizing the service."
Zimmer encourages anyone to join, as the application is just as boundless as Facebook. The service is meant to benefit those students who are in need of transportation home from school. Students like Michelle Carr, a junior English major, believe that a majority of students would take advantage of the application, although she could not see herself using it.
"I wouldn't feel comfortable bringing somebody I don't know home," Carr said. "If they were UB students, maybe I'd be more willing to."
According to Janalee Colley, a sophomore media study major, Facebook acts as a step in the right direction for those who may feel uncomfortable about carpooling home with unknown people.
"I suppose I would feel sort of comfortable being able to see the person on Facebook as opposed to not at all," Colley said. "I think the Facebook applications, though, are a step forward."
Although there is some expressed doubt among students about being fully comfortable braving the drive home with somebody else, Corey Brabon, a junior aerospace engineering major, sees himself taking advantage of the application depending on how well known it becomes.
"I don't have a car right now," Brabon said. "I know lots of people who would be willing to take a ride from someone else."
Brabon feels that there would be a higher probability of males being more willing and more comfortable to take and give rides than females. Through usage of Facebook, Brabon believes a person could become more familiarized with another in regards to accepting rides and planning trips home.
"The advantage is being able to meet the person," Brabon said. "I feel like Facebook could contribute since it is so easy to communicate."
According to Zimmer, the sky is the limit when it comes to getting the word out about the carpooling application through use of Facebook. The popularity of social networks has changed the style of life itself.
"Anybody in the entire world can use this," Zimmer said. "We have people who are using this application in Turkey and London. You can share rides with any surrounding schools or help out specifically with those that go to your school."
For more information, see www.zimride.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
