Looking for a ride to New York? Clinton L. can help.
For $80, Clinton is offering a ride in his Infiniti FX45 from Arlington to New York City. Though there are a couple of things potential passengers should know.
First, Clinton drives fast — “around 90 mph on the highway” — and he’ll be listening to electronic dance music. It’s OK with him if his passengers smoke, but they need to be under 30 years of age.
Clinton is just one of the people who have posted their travel plans on the new ride-sharing program Zimride, the latest in a slew of companies to launch in Northern Virginia. Zimride debuted in the area last week.
The organization, which uses social networks to match drivers and passengers based on their musical preferences, smoking habits and other personal details, enables users to travel anywhere in the United States.
John Zimmer, Zimride’s co-founder, said he helped launch the company because it annoyed him to learn that 80 percent of the car seats on America’s highways are empty and that no similar service existed.
“Carpooling sucks,” Zimmer said. “So we tried to figure out why it wasn’t mainstream.”
He came to the conclusion that if he could devise a system that garners trust, provides incentives for drivers and then convinces people to use the system, Zimride would take off.
Bobbi Greenberg, marketing director for Arlington County Commuter Services, said she hopes “people are willing to give it a try.”
As the San Francisco-based organization continues to grow, it’s going to offer riders more choices, Zimmer said, which is good news for those who can’t handle electronic dance music for the nearly five hours it takes to get from Arlington to New York City.
One immediate alternative is to travel up with Justin R., who is offering a $48 round-trip ride in his 2010 Hyundai Elantra.
“I’ve made this ride over the past few weekends and have found a few tricks to avoid some of the traffic on Friday night,” his post said. “I have an AC adapter for you to plug in a laptop or charge your phone. I’ll only take one in the passenger seat and one in the back, so everyone gets their own seat.”
