Use a mouse, not a thumb, to hitch a ride

From staff reports

April 3, 2000
Web posted at: 1:42 a.m. EDT (0542 GMT)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Tired of rising gas prices and expensive air fares? Why not carpool on that next long highway trip, using a brand new national rideboard on the Internet.

RideBoard.com, which officially opened for business Monday, offers an online bulletin board for passengers and drivers seeking budget travel across the country and the world.

The Web site will include places where prospective travel partners can post messages, find passengers, chat online and communicate via free Web-based e-mail, according to the company.

"When I attended SUNY-Albany as an undergrad, I didn't have much luck using the student rideboard," says Jordan Arnold, founder and CEO of RideBoard.com. "When I got to Vanderbilt, I noticed that their rideboard is overrun with advertisements. I thought the Internet would be a great place to bring a rideboard to people and bring it across society."

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RideBoard.com features eight travel categories: college students, roundtrips, one-way trips, concerts, sporting events, business travel, carpools and moving truck space.

Potential riders or drivers select one of the categories and post an e-email message with information like where and when they want to travel and other pertinent conditions, like whether smokers or heavy metal music fans are welcome. Other users can then search the database either by individual states or regions.

Security is a top concern for RideBoard, which offers explicit safety tips for users.

"Once a match is made and a user makes contact, we advocate that they meet in our RideChat room," Arnold says. "They should arrange to meet offline in a neutral location to exchange information, and do the 'due diligence' of rideshare."

The online chat room offers people a chance to find last-minute travel partners. And the free Web-based e-mail enables people to keep their privacy, offering a substitute for their primary e-mail addresses. The site also contains gateways into background search companies, and RideBoard plans to add a way to check if a user has a valid driver's license.

The site will soon offer community-based rideshare boards, providing a personalized page for corporations, schools, bands or small towns.

Jordan Arnold, a 25-year-old native of New York, founded Nashville, Tennessee-based RideBoard.com in 1998. He is a law student at Vanderbilt University.

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RideBoard.com

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