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CBC brings alarming news this week of a “growing problem” on the highways of Central Canada. It is the scourge of “illegal carpooling.”

“Kijiji, Craigslist and other such sites are filled with requests from drivers seeking passengers to share the cost of one-off trips, such as chipping in for gas, a practice that’s completely above board,” the public broadcaster reports. There are also perfectly legal driver-passenger matchmaking services like Amigo Express, based in Montreal, that verify drivers’ licences and enforce some quality control.

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“But there are also posts offering multiple trips a day in state-of-the-art vans equipped with the internet and other amenities,” CBC warns, “and that sort of unlicensed carpooling is prohibited in both Ontario and Quebec.”

State-of-the-art vans, you say? (The article features a photo of a spiffy Mercedes Sprinter.) The internet, and other amenities? Cheaper than the Greyhound or Via? I imagine some readers are struggling to see a problem here beyond the fact that it’s illegal.