U launches custom Zimride Rideshare Community to enhance commuting opportunities for students, faculty and staff
Contacts: Jacqueline Brudlos, Parking and Transportation Services, (612) 624-4161 or jbrudlos@umn.edu
Patty Mattern, University News Service, (612) 624-2801, mattern@umn.edu
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/16/2009) —University of Minnesota’s Parking and Transportation Services recently partnered with Zimride to create the U’s new private rideshare community.
The Zimride platform connects University of Minnesota community members through an easy-to-use private network that reduces campus traffic, provides substantial cost-savings and helps people to find and share rides.
Through the U’s Zimride Website (www.zimride.com/umn), students, faculty and staff create profiles and post their ride offers or requests. They can find friends, classmates and colleagues with similar commute patterns to partner for a long drive or a ride home for Thanksgiving or other holidays.
The U’s Zimride system also integrates with Zipcar, allowing users to find others to split their Zipcar reservations and reduce costs.
The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the biggest travel times for students and a great opportunity to use Zimride, said Jacqueline Brudlos, communications coordinator at Parking and Transportation Services. With 50,000 students on campus, many are making the same drive home for the holiday. By adding their ride request or ride offer, they can find others from the U headed the same way and save money on the trip.
“Zimride is a great partner for our organization,” Brudlos said. “It makes it easy for our students, faculty, and staff to save money and reduce our carbon footprint. It provides our community with a fun way to find and share rides."
Since launching in September, more than 850 members of the U community have signed up to find and share rides at www.zimride.com/umn.