Finding a Car Pool

Problem: You've decided to carpool to work, but need help finding people to share a ride.

Solution: There are a number of carpooling Web sites that will match you with other commuters who share the same route. Most sites allow viewers to communicate anonymously at first, then by email or telephone. At eRideShare.com, which caters mostly to daily commuters, enter your Zip Code and the direction you are heading, and search through listings for commutes that match yours. Members of NuRide.com, are rewarded for each ride with points redeemable at restaurants, retailers and for tickets to shows and attractions. For longer distance, one-off ride-sharing searches, craigslist.com (under "community" click on "rideshare"), the ride-sharing social networks zimride.com and goloco.org and ridester.com are useful. Goloco and ridester both charge fees: a 10% transaction fee for goloco; and a $2 rider's fee and 9.5% processing fee on the driver's price for ridester.

Caveat: To allay safety concerns, carpoolers should meet in a public place before traveling together for the first time. You can ask for references and check member profiles before entering into an agreement to share a car. Some sites, such as NuRide and zimride, allow users to rate each other on reliability.