Best Apps for Ridesharing

If living in the greater New York City area has taught us one thing, it’s that it’s good to have a transportation backup plan. With gas shortages and HOV restrictions in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, carpooling and shared rides are necessary now more than ever. Here are some carpooling apps to help you find other commuters to meet the NYC bridge and tunnel requirement of three riders per vehicle.

Zimride

This carpooling site leverages social networking to connect drivers with riders. You need to set up a profile first, which taps into your Facebook account to create an eHarmony-like profile for ridesharing so you can match interests, likes or even music tastes before you set foot in someone’s vehicle. Zimride and its sister company Lyft are free for download in iTunes.

Avego

This company is in the passenger transportation business, offering professional services, but also a real-time ridesharing app for consumers. GPS technology shares your location and matches you up in real time with passengers looking for a ride along the same route, and you’ll receive an alert with the “fare” and location of the passenger. Conversely you can get matched up with someone headed your way that also has the Avego app, and you’ll receive real-time info so you’ll know when the driver will be there. Safety features are built in, like details of the driver/rider including photo, an authentication system to confirm the passenger is who they say they are, and all trips are logged with Avego using GPS. Avego is available for both the iOS and Windows Phone 7. If you're looking for a similar app that's supported on the Android platform, you may want to consider Rideshare 2.0 which can also can be downloaded for free on Google Play.

RideJoy

RideJoy enables people to “share rides with friendly people.” You can find a ride or offer a ride by searching for the origin, destination and date of travel. You either pay or get paid for gas depending on who’s behind the wheel. Through linking your RideJoy profile with Facebook, you can see details about your passengers and vice versa. RideJoy has a “no-flake” policy for confirmed rides, and offers driver license authentication so you can feel a little more confident before getting into a stranger’s car for the first time. You can book or offer rides on the RideJoy website or their free app available in iTunes.

Heyride

This new rideshare website available for Connecticut commuters (and works in six other cities across the country)  is worth checking out for free on iTunes if you live there.