Carpoolzone.ca Commuters Saved over $5 million in 2009 by Carpooling

Carpoolzone.ca helps drivers cut costs during Carpool Week

TORONTO , Feb. 1, 2010 /CNW/ - Smart Commute, who operates carpoolzone.ca, a ride-matching website, has designated February 1-5, 2010 as Carpool Week. During Carpool Week, Smart Commute is encouraging drivers to visit carpoolzone.ca to see how much their daily commute costs in dollars and pollution and register for the service to find a carpool match.

The website matches commuters with similar schedules and routes from home to work to share a ride. Almost 23,000 commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) have saved over $5 million in 2009 by carpooling.

"Carpooling is an effective way to reduce your transportation costs," said Ryan Lanyon, Smart Commute. "Our users are saving a combined average of $425,000 a month by sharing the ride to work."

In addition to cost savings associated with owning, driving and maintaining a car, carpoolers reap other rewards such as reduced stress, less impact on the environment, and possibly a preferential parking spot at work.

"I started carpooling with two people and now we are a group of three and it is working very well," says Sanjay Makwana, a current user of carpoolzone.ca. "Carpooling gives you lots of time to relax when you are not driving."

Smart Commute works with local employers to improve commuting options for their employees. More than 130 employers with 335,000 employees have signed on to the program. Many employers across the region are participating in special promotions for Carpool Week.

For more information about carpooling in the GTHA and Carpool Week, visit www.carpoolzone.ca.

Disponible en français.

    
                                 Backgrounder

    History and Technology

    -   Launched on November 24, 2005, carpoolzone.ca's website features
        include:
        -  Search options that let users decide how flexible they are in
           distance, driving times, and other preferences.
        -  Google maps that are used to display locations and map out routes
        -  Intelligent route matching that improves the number of possible
           carpool matches. Route-based matching considers the entire route
           traveled, allowing matches with commuters who can be picked up
           along the way
        -  Routes that can be customized to show the roads and highways
           actually traveled

    User Response

    -   More than 5,000 active users and almost 23,000 registrations
    -   More than 750 current carpools
    -   89% of users are satisfied with the service
    -   More than three-quarters of users rated the service as excellent or
        very good
    -   90% of users would recommend carpoolzone.ca
    -   45% are interested in carpooling to save money and 29% are interested
        in carpooling to improve the environment

    Results

    -   Combined average monthly savings by commuters of $425,000
    -   Combined average monthly reduction of 200 tonnes of greenhouse gas
        emissions
    -   Combined average monthly reduction of 850,000 km of car travel -
        equivalent to about 1,400 cars

    Multilingual Services

    -   Carpoolzone.ca is available in seven languages:
        -  English
        -  French
        -  Chinese (simplified)
        -  Italian
        -  Portuguese
        -  Punjabi
        -  Spanish
    

For further information: Media contact: Ryan Lanyon, Smart Commute, [phone] or cell [phone], [email protected]