There's a New App to Share Car Rides

Owning a car is really expensive—and Seattle's public transit system sucks. So today in Seattle, a new company is launching an app called Sidecar that would help connect drivers with folks who want to carpool. Initially, it will only be available from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

It works like this: People who need rides will open the app and drop a pin where they need to be picked up and the address where they need to go. Nearby drivers will get a notification and, if they are available, go pick up the wayward traveler. The app suggests a donation amount for the ride and Sidecar charges the credit card the users have on file. At the end of the ride, there is an opportunity for both rider and driver to rate each other and the enjoyability of the ride. It's a bit like the couchsurfing.org model, which uses peer reviews to verify the credibility of the users.

The San Francisco-based company is expanding to Seattle because of the demographic and cultural similarities between the two cities. they say. "Seattle’s tech savvy populace and culture of innovation make this city the logical next choice to accelerate the crowdsourced transportation movement," said CEO Sunil Paul.