Story by Ariela RoseThe brainchild of Drexel grads Aksel Gungor and Andy Guy, Ridaroo is an online application that solves one simple problem: carpool coordination. After spotting an on-campus “ride board” where students and faculty would tack Post-it notes offering and requesting transportation, Gungor had the idea to streamline the process—eliminating the time needed for the board’s one-woman staff to call and coordinate rides, and increasing the comfort level of the carpool-curious. The site launched in September 2010, and since then has racked up a system of 400 student users from Drexel’s Co-op program. To sign up, students visit drexel.ridaroo.com, choose a password and create a brief profile that includes a photo, academic year and major, plus fun stuff like favorite morning music. The site is also integrated with Facebook, so users can see if they have mutual friends before hitting the road. Once users create their profiles, an interactive map on their page will display other users who live nearby.
On April 18, the program was made available to all Drexel students, and this summer Ridaroo will do a soft launch, offering the service to all Philadelphia-area college students. If all goes well, the city’s college community could be in a carpool craze come fall.
More at Ridaroo.com
