Carpooling Apps going Mainstream

New York Times features another article on carpooling apps.

Over the past month many articles were published on the growing Real-Time Ridesharing space. Of greatest note was a major piece run by the New York Times over the July 4th holiday. A photo shoot and interviews with Avego users in Sonoma County, CA, showed how using Avego technology not only provides commuters with features to make ridesharing safer, but an alternative that is more flexible than traditional carpooling.

Monika Loose, an employee of Sonoma County government, was quoted as saying “I’m not an everyday carpooler, maybe three days a week. I like to have my car other days to do other errands.”

This scenario is rare for traditional carpools, but rigid, regular schedules that carpooling was designed around are no longer commonplace in the modern workforce. Flexi-time and families reducing to one car to cut costs, mean that they need more options for their commute, options which suit their changing, sometimes unpredictable lifestyle. As Ms. Loose puts it, “I don’t want people dependent on me every day.”

Paul Steinberg, Director of Americas at Avego, told the New York Times, “It’s a big challenge; it’s harder in the U.S. than other geographies.” However, it’s obvious that change is afoot – with the growth of Avego pilots across the U.S. (from just one to five in the space of a year), Real-Time Ridesharing is becoming a real option for an ever-increasing number of commuters.