Here are seven web sites that are currently offering online registration for ride sharing:

1. http://www.erideshare.com/ - Carpool and ridesharing website

2. http://www.gishigo.com/ - Ride Share Network

3. http://www.goloco.org/ - An easy way to share trips with your friends

4. http://www.nuride.com/ - Save money and earn rewards

5. http://www.pickuppal.com/ - Connect drivers and passengers

6. http://www.ridester.com/ - Life is a Journey. Share it.

7. http://zimride.com/ - Social rideshare and carpool matching

These seem to be the leaders in this emerging market, but I am sure there are many others.  I applaud each of their efforts to increase ride sharing by building online communities.  Take a look at one or more of the sites to see the many benefits of carpooling and how they address our fear of strangers.

So what is missing?  Convenience.

While they each help facilitate ride sharing, there is a lot of planning involved.  Most of the shared trips are either normal daily carpools to work or one time trips to another city.  I think as these communities grow, we can move toward more on-demand ride sharing. 

My dream is that we could harness much of the unused capacity of passenger vehicles on the road today.  If more people continue to get involved in ride sharing, then there will be more available rides and passengers to fill them.  I know it will take time, but online ride sharing communities are a big step in the right direction.

Cell phones with internet access will make shared transportation even easier.

photo credit: believekevin

My absolute favorite magazine is Fast Company.  I consistently find inspiration every month in one or more articles.  In their current issue, there is good story about the increasing use of reviews and ratings online.  They detail how everyone on the internet knows when you are a dog.

You can see the spread of reviews and ratings from Amazon and eBay to Target and Office Depot. There are also a growing number of opinion-based sites, such as:

• Yelp – Real People, Real Reviews
• TripAdvisor – get the truth, then go
• City Search – Live like an insider
• Urbanspoon - reviews from critics, food bloggers and friends
• Zagat – Eat, Drink, Stay, Play
• Angie’s List – Looking for the best service?

When I am looking for a book, the first thing I do is go to Amazon and read the reviews and ratings.  I find them incredibly helpful and they lead me to a good purchasing decision.

Most of these opinion-based sites are for travel and dining, but Angie’s List is interesting since they rate and review contractors, service companies and health care providers.  Good service will yield high ratings, while poor service will result in a tarnished reputation.

I think similar ratings of drivers and riders would remove some of the uncertainty.  Can you give me any more examples of reviews and ratings that you find helpful?

photo credit: joeltelling

An excellant example of peer review can be found on commercial vehicles and the “How’s my Driving” sign on the back of many of them.  If you see someone driving erratic, you can call a number and report the offending driver.  The drivers know this, so they police themselves and are much more considerate to the other drivers. 

This could easily be applied to all drivers with a system that uses the same sort of feedback algorithms to establish a reputation tracking system.  Now before you accept a ride with a complete “stranger”, you could first see what others think of this individual.  Now millions of American drivers would be watching their fellow drivers and report anyone who is behaving badly.