RENEWABLOG

Blame Canada? Carpooling Startup Pays Up

Carpooling startups are cropping up everywhere, including Schwartz client Avego, because between exorbitant gas prices and escalating environmental concerns, we’ve realized we must find a better way.

For Avego, it's matching a driver's wasted seat capacity (all those empty seats in the single commuter's car) with willing commuters. Avego’s iPhone app incentivizes the casual carpool with convenient text messaging and GPS, a simple PayPal exchange and a rating system.

With similar goals, PickupPal launched in August to lend Web 2.0 tools to the carpooler. Unfortunately, some Canadians won’t be able to use the service.

As Michael Arrington reported on TechCrunch, PickupPal was "sued under an Ontario law that limits carpoolers to traveling only from home to work and back, riding with the same driver every day and paying only by the week, among other restrictions."

It's basically illegal to rideshare in Ontario and trying to implement such practices resulted in an $11,336.07 fine for poor PickupPal.

Hopefully the Ontario Highway Transportation Board (OHTB) will change its restrictions (ever heard of global climate change?) and other cities will take heed: Carpooling is an asset to your city, its people and the planet.

Avego will soon release its much-discussed iPhone app to beta users who sign up online. Don’t bother if you live in Ontario, eh? Or better yet, demand that the OHTB lets you use it!

Posted by Whitney Phaneuf on November 14, 2008 at 10:55 AM