Students reacted positively to the February launch of AU’s branch of the Zimride rideshare program, according to Curtis Rogers, national account manager of Zimride.
The Web site, zimride.american.edu, is a way for AU students to find rides with other AU students online. Students can coordinate sharing a ride if their route is the same or similar, saving them money and helping the environment, Rogers said.
After signing up with their college e-mail addresses, students can post their travel routes and indicate whether they are offering or requesting a ride. Students who post a route similar to that of another student will get matched up and can decide whether they want to share a ride and split the cost of travel, Rogers said.
“Zimride is a place for you to post where you’re going on the weekend,” he said. “If your friend doesn’t need a car you can basically do a rideshare with them or you can … go ‘zimriding’ with them, so you avoid the cost of gas and have one less car on the road.”
Since the launch of AU’s Zimride program on February 18, 923 students have signed up, 89 one-time travels have been posted, and over 7,000 rides have taken place, according to Rogers. More than 300,000 college students use Zimride nationwide in over 40 colleges.
Chris O’Brien, director of the Office of Sustainability, said he got the idea to launch Zimride at AU after he saw the organization’s booth at the “Greening of Campus” conference.
“We want to help members of the campus community save money on gas and vehicle maintenance while reducing their carbon footprint and building social networks with their colleagues and classmates,” he said.
Zimride is a safe way to travel because only members of the AU community can use it. Users are identified by their real names, and users can choose to upload a photo of themselves, O’Brien said.
Anyone with an AU e-mail address can create a free user account on Zimride, including students, faculty and staff.
The Zimride Web site was created in 2007 after one of its founders discovered the value of ridesharing in Africa.
“One of our founders was traveling through Zimbabwe, and he realized that before the people there would travel anywhere they would fill their vehicle,” Rogers said. “So he realized that a very underutilized resource in the United States is the empty seats in cars.”
The “zim” in Zimride is taken from the country name Zimbabwe in honor of the founder’s trip there, he said.
The company is trying to market the program through e-mails and Web site updates. Zimride will try to further promote the site by holding contests and giving out gas gift certificates, Rogers said.
Rogers has used Zimride himself. One weekend, he needed to drive three hours to Texas to go to a wedding. He posted his route on Zimride and found a girl who was going the same way.
“We road-tripped for about three hours, I dropped her off, and she paid me gas money,” he said. “We talked the whole time - so it was a lot more interesting than driving by myself.”
You can reach this staff writer at nglass@theeagleonline.com.
