The UI RideShare program, which was introduced this year, gains traction among faculty, staff, and students.

By Charles Peckman | [email protected]

The University of Iowa RideShare program, which was introduced this fall, aims to connect staff members, faculty, and students with potential commuting partners.

Since its start, there has been continued — and exponential — support for and excitement about the program.

Commuter-programs manager Michelle Ribble said, “We are continuing to see an increase in membership. We started RideShare on Oct. 20 and had 150 people, but I checked this morning [Wednesday], and that number is now more than 400.”

She attributes the growth of the program to the enthusiasm that the faculty, staff, and students have demonstrated.

“The breakdown we’re seeing is around 60 percent faculty/staff and 40 percent students,” Ribble said.

Although a majority of the rides posted on the site are for daily commutes to work, she has seen a rise in the number of “single posts,” or rides to special events and rides home.

Convenience aside, RideShare has the environment on its members’ minds. Ribble said she believes “people are becoming more conscious about their environmental impact,” and sharing rides definitely contributes to that.

Ribble said the “calendar” feature, on which users can log their commutes, provides a tool to see how much people save not only monetarily but in terms of environmental impact as well.

RideShare will contribute to Iowa City’s goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 to 28 percent by 2025, she noted.

One user of the program who wished to remain anonymous said she uses RideShare three to five days a week for her commute to Cedar Rapids.

By using the RideShare calendar tool, she was able to determine that her carpooling from Dec. 1 to Dec. 14 was able to save 9.6 gallons of gas and prevented the release of 189 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

UI Student Government President Rachel Zuckerman said, “We knew people were using channels such as Facebook to find commuting partners, so we decided to find a safer and more institutionalized network.”

Zuckerman said UISG passed a proposal thanking Parking & Transportation for creating the commuter network.

Despite RideShare’s risinging popularity, she said, the program is still new, and it will take time for faculty, staff, and students to turn away from other channels such as Facebook and employ the university program.

“I’m sure we will see RideShare gain more traction and legitimacy as more students learn about this resource,” Zuckerman said.

She is also enthusiastic about other RideShare aspects, including its role in recruiting new students to the university.

“We haven’t had something like this in the past, but when prospective students ask, we can say that the UI has a ride-sharing program,” she said.

UISG Sen. Akash Bhalerao, an environmental activist, said, 

“I think RideShare is a really secure, sustainable way for students to find rides.”

Bhalerao noted that RideShare is secure because of students’ ability to find and match with other students through a school-sponsored channel.

In terms of sustainability, Bhalerao said fewer cars on the roads means fewer emissions, and the ability as a campus to reduce the number of cars increases environmental friendliness.

“[The UISG] has been working hard with the residence halls to raise awareness for this program,” Bhalerao said. “Because it’s a new program, it will take us time to transition — but it will definitely benefit us in the long run.”