When making plans for spring break, especially for those who live far away, consider the  new Carpooling application. While college students constantly use applications like Lyft and Uber to get to and from places close by, the Carpooling application allows people to travel longer distances for a low cost and a more environmentally friendly ride.

The application is wildly popular in Europe. Being of service to over 3.5 million rideshares, the popular application is now making its way to the United States. With the launch of Carpooling, people are now able to find safe, convenient and green-friendly ways of traveling while saving money. In addition, people can enjoy each other’s company on long road trips, instead of taking a boring bus ride or paying for an expensive plane ticket.

The main purpose of Carpooling is to “move the world.” Driver and passengers are able to connect easily via the application, allowing them to share the cost that comes along with longer trips. It encourages those who are traveling in the same direction to carpool together, which is a great benefit to the environment by having fewer cars on the road. 

“Students in particular need a cost-effective, eco-friendly and fun mode of transportation to get to where they want to be, whether they are going on Spring Break or headed to a concert in another city,” said Carpooling CEO Markus Barnikel in a prepared statement. “We recognize there won’t be an abundance of passengers and drivers connected with each other at launch, but we’re confident from more than a decade of experience in Europe that supply and demand will grow rapidly.”

Furthermore, the application allows students to post where they’re traveling to and find others who are looking to go in the same destination. While some may question the safety of this, Carpooling lets its users create a profile that includes their license plate numbers, photo ID and Facebook profiles in order to ensure security for the passengers. Travelers are also given the opportunity to rate and comment on the driver once their trip is over to help others when they are choosing whether or not to use the application. 

“Having my hometown in Southern California and going to school up here in Sonoma, I’ve made the long drive by myself to and from numerous times,” said Sonoma State University student Callie Lockwood. “The cost to travel can get to be pretty expensive, so it would be nice to be able to find people that need a ride in the same direction and would be willing to chip in for gas. This Carpooling application sounds like a pretty useful service, especially to us college students.” 

The Carpooling application doesn’t employ drivers as Uber and Lyft do. It simply encourages people that are traveling a similar route to help each other out. However, Carpooling is integrated with Uber to offer an easier way to travel. 

The two companies are working together to provide their customers with the best traveling service possible. It’s the first company in the United States to offer its users a door-to-door long-distance service. Once passengers book their trip, they have the option to have an Uber driver take them to the agreed meeting destination for the beginning of their carpool. 

“In the U.S. market, where public transportation is limited, there was a missing piece to the puzzle: how does a passenger make it to a carpooling pick-up point, while still keeping the overall cost of the trip low?” said Barnikel.

The Carpooling application will help students and the environment through the simple method of sharing rides while making the entire traveling process much easier.