6 Myths About Ridesharing Busted

We get many questions from our growing member base. Some of the more common things we hear at RidePost are about ridesharing myths.  So we decided to share some easy to digest answers to a few questions, Mythbusters style:

1.) My parents have taught me that getting into the car with a stranger is bad.

Mom and dad are right on this. Picking up a random vagabond on the side of the road with a thumb out or agreeing to get into a windowless van with the ice cream man is not the best way to go. Don’t do that. Ever.

This is why we created RidePost. When booking your trip on RidePost, not only will you know who you are travelling with ahead of time, but you can send mom/dad/friend/family/Facebook friends a unique Trip Itinerary link, where they can see:

• Who you are traveling with
• What your itinerary is and driving path
• When and where you will be meeting
• Info on your driver and passengers
• Pre Trip conversations between drivers and passengers

2.)  Isn’t ridesharing like hitch hiking?

No. Fortunately alot has changed since the days of anonymous hitchhiking of 1970’s. Back in the day there was no way to check the reputation and personal information about others ahead of time.

Then the internet happened.

Thanks to online media, an entire generation of people are growing up with real reputations online. Using RidePost, you will know more about the people you are traveling with than you would if you get into a bus, a plane or a train. With RidePost, every driver and passenger self selects into the trip – so if you don’t want to ride with another person you can choose not to. Every traveler on RidePost must have a profile that connects with their social media, so you will see ahead of time if you have mutual friends, so you know exactly who you are dealing with before you ever get into the car with another member. Plus – you will see real and verified reviews of other people’s prior trips. So just like on eBay or Amazon.com where you can see how a buyer or seller has performed in the past, you can make a decision about a person based on their reputation and what others have experienced with them.

3.) What about the craigslist crazies?

Our enemy is anonymity. We believe that you deserve to know as much as possible about the person you are transacting with, before agreeing to book or buy. For this reason, there is no place for anonymous transactions in a post Facebook world.

You should know ahead of time who you will be traveling with, and make a decision of whether or not that person seems interesting to you. Because the only thing more important than the destination when traveling, is the people you are traveling with.

4.) Ridesharing is for unemployed hippies only.

Not true. Today in Europe there are over 2 million people sharing rides every month. In the US we have more cars, and more miles being driven in single occupancy vehicles. As gas prices and costs of car ownership continue to rise, a record number of people are turning to alternative transportation to get to where they need to go.

These are not just unemployed hippies. They are educated young professionals and savy business people. In fact, one of our biggest feature requests has been for a way to signup via LinkedIn. This is coming from a growing number of professionals who may not have a Facebook account, but have a LinkedIn account and are looking to save some money. Hello Networking 101!

5.) I don’t want to be stiffed by my passengers who say they will pay me $30 for a ride, but when we get to our destination they amazingly “forgot” they don’t have any cash.

No worries my friend. Everyone of our trips are booked in advance (ideally >2 days in advance). When a passenger requests a ride with a driver, they already have verified their credit card. As soon as a driver accepts a ride request, the passenger’s credit card is charged. This way there is no awkward cash transaction or doubt about the person’s ability to pay.

6.) I have a job, so I don’t have time to ride with someone else.

Not true. If you need to travel on a business trip or are just looking for a way to be more efficient on the road, ridesharing may actually improve your travel productivity.

Think of it this way, instead of driving yourself or shuffling between airports, you can ride shotgun while another RidePoster drives. This way you can spend all of your travel time working, running your business from the road and being productive while leaving the driving to someone else. Not to mention you will save money on travel, up to 75% of business travel costs, by using RidePost. If you are smart enough to have that job of yours, you know any boss would be happy if you save her money.

We hope this helps answer some of your ridesharing questions. If it was helpful to you we ask that you please share it with your friends or network. Help spread the good word.

If you have more please email us anytime @ Hello@RidePost.com.

The RidePost Support Team