Be A Passenger in a Successful Rideshare Experience

So here is some advice on how to not only be a good passenger, but also find a trustworthy, reliable driver, for a successful rideshare experience. This advice is from a Craigslist user, but also works for any of the various dedicated rideshare sites:

1. Searching for ads placed by drivers:
   
   
   • Use keywords, such as the name of your destination city, or a city further on the route. You can also search for ads in other cities along your route that would send a driver through your city of origin at some point. For example, if you are in Houston, TX looking for a ride to Florida, you might have a better chance finding a ride in the Los Angeles rideshare section than in the Houston rideshare section as there are many drivers traveling from California to Florida.
   
   
   • Contact the driver to hone in on specifics. It is important to ask whether the ride is absolutely definite, because often drivers who are in the planning stage are still deciding whether they will actually make the trip or not. Their trip is often contingent on whether or not they have a couple of riders to help pay for it.
   
   
   • Be yourself. If you are going to be traveling with someone for hours, it is better to find out early if you are compatible travel companions. There have only been a couple of times when I wished I had probed a little further before sharing a ride, such as the time that one of my riders was obviously aggravated that I wouldn’t allow smoking in my car and I was aggravated at the amount of times I had to pull over to allow him to smoke. This is perhaps less important if you don’t have more than one rideshare option to choose from.
   
   
   • Be careful, but not paranoid. It is fair game to ask a driver what condition their vehicle is in, whether they consider themselves to be a safe driver, or whether or not they smoke in the car, etc. But be considerate.


2. Placing your own 'rideshare wanted' ad
   I find that I have much better luck finding specifically what I am looking for when I place my own ad than when I try to fit into someone else’s plans. Many drivers peruse rideshare wanted ads, but never place their own, so it ups your chances a great deal to place your own ad in addition to searching drivers' ads.
   
   
   • Be specific. It will result in a more enjoyable, experience. Smoker? Non-smoker? Say so. Want to stop at White Sands, NM on the way? Only feel comfortable riding with other women or drivers who are light on the accelerator and keep the 2 second rule? Be specific.
   
   
   • Placing one good ad in the right location is enough. Craigslist doesn’t like users to place the same ad in multiple cities or in the same city day after day. Neither do readers. They might flag you. It is fine to place a rideshare ad a couple weeks before the trip and again the day before. I find that the last minute trips often pan out better than the ones with too much notice. Seasoned rideshare drivers will find you with just one ad. They may be turned off or think you are desperate if you bombard the rideshare section.
   
   
   • Offer a specific dollar amount. If you don’t want to be surprised by the bill or have an awkward moment at the end of the trip, make a specific dollar offer. Price it below the cost for the bus or train, but high enough to make it worthwhile for the driver.
   
   
   • Have a backup plan. Check out the bus or train schedule and price, just in case your ride backs out.


3. During the trip:
   
   • Act as if you are in someone else's home. You know, the usual...don't leave your belongings scattered everywhere, take your trash with you if you can, be polite.
   
   
   • Speak up if you are uncomfortable about something. Don't ever be shy about asking for a restroom. You also have the right to ask the driver to stick to the speed limit or not talk on the phone while they are driving if you are not comfortable with that. This has only been an issue for me once, where the driver was not a good multi-tasker, and I nicely suggested to the driver that I could drive if he wants to talk on the phone and eat his lunch. He turned me down, but also put the phone down.
   
   
   • Offer to drive if the driver seems sleepy or road weary.
   
   
   • Be considerate when it comes to talking on your cell phone for extended periods. It can be invasive and alienating.
   
   
   • Be open to becoming friends, but don't feel pressured to, either. I still keep in contact with some of my rideshare partners and check in with them occasionally when I'm planning a trip. Others, I never see or hear from again, even though it was a positive experience.

Keep in mind that Ridesharing is different than hitchhiking. It is more fair because fellow travelers share the expense instead of that entire expense falling on the driver. Also, with ridesharing, if the passenger does not make a fair offer or carries an attitude where they feel that it is the driver's responsibility to include them as a passenger for free because they are going there anyway and have an empty seat, the driver may decide to leave the car at home and be someone else’s passenger instead.

There are some sites dedicated to ridesharing, which include driver and passenger profiles as well as testimonials to give the user a better sense of who they are riding with. Those sites are on the right track, but they just don’t yet have the usership that Craigslist has. Without high usership, matching a driver with a passengers is a rare event in my experience. eRideshare.com is a good bet, since it imports craigslist rideshare ads to their site, but it is still better to post the ad on Craigslist than eRideshare in my opinion.

Look out for the next segment of this series about successful ridesharing from a driver’s perspective.

Read the next page "Be a Driver in a Successful Rideshare Experience."

Further Reading:
How to Go Green: Cars
How to Go Green: Commuting
TreeHugger Picks: Dip Your Toe in the Car Pool
Carpool Across the Country

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