PickupPal Blog

There’s plenty of room at the PickupPal Parking Lot…. Such a lovely space - such a lovely idea. O.K. I know BAD humour - however what more do you want on a Friday afternoon after a night on the town, (Black Crowes at Bluesfest). So here is the deal The Magnetic Hill Festival and PickupPal have partnered up to provide Carpool parking only to PickupPal members/users, (here is the ERP for it). I love it - not because it makes people use PickupPal but because it sends a message - double up and cut down and you can get a perk for helping out.

Here is some press on it:

• http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/news/article/351547
• http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/07/11/nb-concert.html

NOTE: You just have to love the Eagles - who has not been swept away by Hotel California - or have thoughts of being swept away on a summer night by temptation.

Have a great weekend,

Cheers - Eric

I saw this photo on a travel blog I read occasionally. This is probably the most amount of people I’ve ever seen traveling on or in a single vehicle (and I’ve seen whole families on mopeds in Vietnam):

It’s an amazing image, but this rideshare was probably undertaken due to some very extreme conditions. Judging by the amount of possessions on board, these poor folks are clearly not commuting.

- Jonathan

We’re probably all well aware by now that air travel generates a massive amount of CO2, more than any other form of transportation.

One transatlantic flight for a family of four creates more CO2 than that family generates domestically in an entire year. (Source)

As PickupPal is still quite new (launched Jan 15th, 2008), we have yet to convince the world’s airlines to sign-up to our service and help fill their empty seats. That is work in progress.

In the meantime, we’re building Eco-Rideshare landing pages to enable airline passengers to rideshare to the airport and reduce the amount of CO2 generated on the highways.

Here are the new landing pages for some of the major US airports:

• Los Angeles International Airport
• JFK International Airport
• Atlanta Jackson International Airport
• Chicago O’Hare International Airport
• Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport
• McCarran Intercontinental Airport
• Denver International Airport
• Minneapolis St Paul International Airport
• Cincinnati International Airport
• Van Nuys Airport
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
• Philadelphia International Airport
• Columbus Airport
• Miami International Airport
• Newark Liberty International Airport
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport
• Lambert-St Louis International Airport
• Memphis International Airport

More to come…

- Jonathan

So many artists are going eco-friendly – whether they are responding to their fan base’s desires or using their own massive influence to drive the trend, it’s ALL good…the point is they are starting to make a difference…both in the eco-consciousness of the world and in the actual reduction of carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Bands like The Bare Naked Ladies and Dave Matthews have been really early, positive influencers.

One thing is for sure, when you really, really believe in something, it’s easy to be enthusiastic about it, just as so many musicians are about the eco-wave. And thankfully nowadays, when what you believe in is also very good for the planet, other people tend to get contagiously enthusiastic about it too. I believe everyone CAN make a difference in reducing car emissions in different ways for example, you don’t need to just drive a hybrid (especially like this one!), you can also choose to share rides.

Over the last several months, we’ve been working very hard at forming new rideshare partnerships for PickupPal. Let me say that it has been REALLY refreshing to see and hear the overwhelmingly positive response we are getting when we reach out to connect with new potential rideshare partners. Whether it’s concert and festival producers; sports series directors or corporate sustainability folks, time and time again I hear…”This is GREAT!!! Thanks so much for your call. Timing is perfect.” In most cases, I barely have a chance to talk about the benefits when I hear them say “parking is a nightmare; traffic is a headache; WE WANT TO GO GREEN!”

It is clear to me from these conversations that the eco-consciousness of the world is changing around us, and changing very rapidly… I just bought The 11th Hour and watched it last night…and more than ever I’m convinced we CAN fix the problems in time, and that EVERY little action helps to do this. We may be down 2 games in the Stanley Cup Final, but we can bring it back. The wave of momentum is here to stay and growing every day.

Brent - PickupPal Business Development

Ah the dreaded carpool…leaving your house at 5:20 AM to drive 20 minutes to a parking lot by the local Timmy’s to wait 10 minutes to meet five other people who work in your building downtown. It’s “Bill’s” turn to drive this week so you pile into his car. And you get on the road. 3.2 of you fall asleep and “Bill” plays this week’s audio-book for the other 1.8 who stay awake. There you are “carpooling” five days a week, 50 weeks a year.

Hmm. I can see why all those HOV lanes are practically empty. Yes-this is a bit of a rant, but tell me if this is not how you imagine carpooling.

Look, I love audio-books, I really do, I love people and I love HOV lanes so don’t get me wrong, and i love carpoolers, they are an awesome lot, they are. One thing I don’t love is letting people down, or having to call someone to say I can’t drive every day this week ’cause I want to work from home on Thursday. You know? And I don’t love getting up at 5:00 AM, I don’t love cleaning the snow off my car and warming it up only to leave it outside in a parking lot all day, four weeks out of five. Truth be told, I don’t love “Bill”…OK, I know, I know… I am getting to my point…

PickupPal is not 1990’s carpooling, it’s 2008 casual ridesharing, it is car-ocean-ing (if you will). It is saying hey, I love people, I love this planet, I love sleep. I will share my drive to work today, not tomorrow, but the next day for sure. I will take one person today and maybe two the next day. On Friday, I am hoping to catch a ride after work to the amphitheatre, I have tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band. I am going there but I am not coming back, well not today anyway. Tomorrow, when I return, I will hop in with someone going my way. I really do want to double up to cut down, but I need my “pool” to be an “ocean”. That is who I am, and PickupPal works for me.

- Suesan

When I was a younger man I studied Urban Planning and during the four years studying all aspects of Urban Design, Transportation Planning, Participatory Planning, Environmental law - all that there was one thing we never talked about - what effect will an increase in the cost of energy have on the viability of suburban development? What happens when the cost of personal transportation becomes a deciding factor in the decision as to whether one can afford to live on the outskirts of town? I know you might be thinking - bahh that is not a big part of the decision making process. Well now that I think about this stuff all the time - I care to put this out there. If the price of fuel doubles in three years - so the cost commuting gets into the ballpark of 6K per year for fuel alone - (with a guaranteed increase in cost year over year as we run out of oil) - what kind of math does one do when calculating the savings of buying on the outskirts of town compared to the urban core. Then take into consideration that the trend is not to build small homes in the country - but rather large energy hungry homes within subdivisions. Well add all that up and then energy becomes a big deal - perhaps even a deal breaker.

I can tell you 20 years ago, back when I had hair, this was not what we talked about, planned for, or even considered. I would have to reach out to my old profs today and ask if it is part of the curriculum and I really hope that it is.

On a side note - if you are interested in this kind of thing - take a look at this awesome presentation by James Howard Kunstler: The tragedy of suburbia.

Again not trying to be preachy - trying to find the right tone - and hoping others want to join in on the conversation.

Cheers - Eric
PS - This post was inspired by this post - Suburbs Are Hurting From Birth Rates and Gas Prices

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is telling commuters in the Toronto area to brace themselves for a general strike at 4 a.m. on Monday Morning (April 21 2008) if they cannot reach an agreement by Sunday. On our end we have seen a massive spike in new members in Toronto – each with a common refrain – they are desperate for desperate for help and feel stranded.

This brings up a huge issue – what is ones transportation Plan B? This has rolled around in my head for a while since the inception of PickupPal . What would happen if the price of Gas spiked and commuters really could not afford to drive any longer? Most cities public transportation systems operate at maximum capacity right now and if demand increased by 10% over a few months they simply could not handle the increase in load. So the question is what do people then do in this situation? Employers generally are sympathetic to a day or so of having staff stay at home but it is not sustainable and for the vast majority of us – transportation is a necessity not a luxury. Options for transportation is vital as we enter into this era of increasing gas prices and increased demands on our transportation infrastructure. Perhaps this is a good wakeup call for some of us to exercise our Plan B’s and see how they work out. I for one am glad the snow has melted and now I can get around on my bike, now it is just a case of getting my legs back into shape!

When all is said and done I hope the strike is averted because the increased congestion and huge increase in carbon footprint during this kind of strike is really not what is needed right now. For all of the new PickupPal members that joined because of the possible TTC strike – welcome – I hope you find PickupPal to be a useful Plan B.
Cheers - Eric