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PickupPal makes carpooling an online, financial thing



In the middle of January, a new website aimed at getting people to car-share was launched over at PickupPal.com. The website's CTO, Eric Dewhirst, describes its carpooling model this way:

PickupPal is like eBay for transportation - you say where you want to go and people bid on taking you there. We launched January 15th and are founders-funded and currently closing a Friends and Family round. Our revenue model is based on 7% commission if we hook you up with someone who is going your way and needs a ride.

Eric says that because people are motivated by money, "carpooling and ride sharing is attractive to the masses when getting paid is involved." And, even though there is a little green footprint signifying carbon reduction on the bottom of the PickupPal site, Eric says that his organization downplays the CO2 reduction angle so they "don't scare away the masses." The idea behind the site is to simply get more people into fewer cars; that'll reduce carbon emissions whether the participants know what they're doing or not. If you've tried PickupPal, let us know your experience -- positive or negative -- in the comments.

[Source: PickupPal]

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