Heading out of town? Check out Roadtrip

By Enid Arbelo

When Ethan Borshansky needed a ride home for the Thanksgiving holiday, he turned to a service that connects drivers with their car-less counterparts.

Roadtrip is an online ride board that helps University student drivers announce their upcoming trips to student who are looking for a ride.

Launched about a year ago, the program gives students a place to match up drivers and riders with the same destination, says Bryan Rotach, program manager for the Rochester Center for Community Leadership and Roadtrip administrator.

“I posted a ride once, just because I didn’t want to pay for a full tank of gas, and then the last day I got a cell phone call. It was great,” says Borshansky, who feels carpooling is a more responsible way to commute.

“It’s also a very important environmental issue,” he adds. “Why have two cars driving 350 miles when you can just have one?”

Roadtrip was funded by the Parents Council to give students a safe and accessible way to connect with each other, Rotach says. While many parents remember the ride boards of the ’60s and ’70s, the council knew that moving the service online was necessary to cater to today’s twenty-somethings.

Students sign into Roadtrip’s secure site using their Net ID and password. This ensures that only University students are using the site and protects personal information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Also, students are reminded through a disclaimer on the site to be responsible and exercise discretion before accepting a ride. Pretrip meetings between the driver and rider are encouraged in order to help guarentee a safe and enjoyable ride.

Learn more at www.sa.rochester.edu/roadtrip.