Facebook car-pool site catching on

LIKE: Nelson College for Girls students Sarah Dale, from left, Lydia Pomeroy, Meg Fraser-Fox and Mikaela Hogg, all 16, show their Facebook page, Catch A Ride Nelson. Photo: MARTIN DE RUYTER

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A group of Nelson College for Girls students are trying to ease traffic congestion in the city and are calling all residents to get on board.

Year 12 students Mikaela Hogg, Sarah Dale, Meg Fraser-Fox and Lydia Pomeroy launched the Facebook page Catch a Ride Nelson on August 10.

The page allows people to organise car-pooling by posting messages requesting or offering lifts. There is also an option for messages to be sent to cellphones.

As part of a geography project to create a more sustainable Nelson, the girls hope the page will help ease traffic congestion, lower emissions and reduce fuel consumption.

Their initial idea was organised hitch-hiking with pick-up points around Nelson, but the Nelson City Council refused to give that project the green light because of safety concerns.

The girls decided to use the social-networking power of Facebook, instead. But while their page had 296 fans as of this morning, they are still waiting on people to start sharing rides.

Mikaela Hogg said privacy settings and electronic conversation trails made it a safer option than hitchhiking.

"People can check out other people's profiles first and see what they are like before getting in a car with them.

"And Nelsonians aren't all that weird! People are bound to get along, they just need to do it."

The other advantage was the project would be self-sustaining, Mikaela said. "The beauty of it is it can keep going after we leave ... people can control it themselves.

"And hopefully it'll inspire people to set up similar things all around the world." Word of mouth – electronic and verbal – was the key to getting things up and going, Mikaela said.

"Facebook is so interactive. People are always talking. Our friends will become fans of the page, and that will show up on their friends' home-pages. Hopefully they'll join too ... and then it'll just grow itself.

"It's like the domino effect. It just needs one person to start."

Lydia said people had been really supportive of the idea so far. As one person posted to the page: "Finally – Facebook has a reason!"

- © Fairfax NZ News

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