ROANOKE, Va. – There's now a faster way to find a carpooling partner in the Roanoke Valley.
RIDE Solutions released an app for its longstanding carpool service in April. More than 2,300 drivers are currently signed up with the free service.
Before the app, riders found carpool partners by e-mail chains in a process that took several days. The app uses GPS data to make that process instantaneous.
RIDE Solutions officials said their service is very different from other ride-sharing apps such as Uber or Lyft.
"We're just making connections with people," said Tim Pohlad-Thomas with RIDE Solutions. "They get on the app, they make this connection with other people making that ride and then they can decide from there how they want to work it. It's not a payment going back and forth, but maybe you switch off who drives or someone helps with gas. In turn, what you're doing is you're saving greenhouse gases."