Website links commuters with carpools

Officials with the city of Regina hope a new website will help commuters find each other to form carpools.

Carpool.ca is a database that allows drivers and passengers who are heading to the same location find one another. It's billed as a way to cut costs, reduce traffic and lower frustration plus it's good for the environment.

The city of Regina has partnered with local businesses and the University of Regina to promote the site.

City spokeswoman Kim Sare says officials began to look into the program when they noticed a lot cars coming to work on city streets without passengers.

"The main concern was that people couldn't find a partner. They didn't know who to contact, who would live in their area," said Sare. "As a result, we looked further into this carpool.ca and found that it seemed to be a good opportunity to link up with them, to provide people with some way of trying to find someone else to ride to work with."

Blaise Boehmer, a student at the University of Regina, hopes the site can will help him. Boehmer lives in Moose Jaw, 40 minutes away from the university, but he doesn't have a car.

"In January, I had to take the bus every morning at 6:40 in the cold, cold weather," he said. "The Greyhound bus would drive right by the university into downtown Regina."

Boehmer has spent the last three years scrounging up rides to Regina, or borrowing his friend's car. It was frustrating for him because he knew drivers were going to the University, but he had no way of connecting with them.

"I see them on the highway every day, people going to school one person in a car."

Gwen Evans, with parking services at the University of Regina, points out that carpooling also helps the driver, who can share the cost of gas and parking.

"The benefit immediately for them is reduced cost, because they are sharing costs with another person or a few people," she said.

Evans hopes carpooling will also help drivers by reducing the number of cars competing for parking spots. During peak periods, 10,000 cars per day visit the university, making it difficult for drivers to find parking.

Links related to this story:

CARPOOL.CA: More on the system