Carpool Clicking

Source, Scott Gutierezz, Seattlepi.com.  In Seattle, two companies are using technology to connect drivers and riders.  Both launched this year with on-demand ridesharing websites and smart-phone apps.

Zebigo, a Fremont startup, was the latest to launch in May.  People sign up online, either as a driver or rider, and the system matches them with other headed that way at the same time.  Riders pay a small per-mileage fee to the driver electronically.  Zebigo was a 2010 Pacific Northwest Cleantech Open Semifinalist.

Zebigo’s launch comes on the heels of a state-funded pilot program, focused  on the State Route 520 corridor, to test ride-sharing as a tool for reducing  congestion.  Managed by Avego, a small Ireland-based transportation software  company, the first phase of the Go520  pilot program just finished in June.