Facebook app links carpoolers

There is no soccer mom with orange slices, but there are perks to carpools, even for college kids - saving money and the environment.

The recently created "Carpool" application on Facebook allows students to coordinate carpools to and from school over breaks. For NYU students, that may mean finding a car buddy to New Jersey, or sharing a cab fare to La Guardia Airport.

"I think at NYU, it will be a convenience that hasn't been there before for sharing cabs to the airport," said John Zimmer, a 2006 Cornell University alumnus and administrator of the Facebook group. "I mean it's normally $50 to go to JFK and when you cut that in half, financially it makes it a convenient travel option."

But it's not just about the money, Zimmer said.

"A big part of the reason this is being done is for the environment," he said. "It is trying to lead to the adoption of carpooling. Ultimately, it's saving emissions NYU is responsible for."

The application allows users to post and view more than 2,000 rides at any given moment. Students can choose to ride only with other NYU students, or they can meet up with someone from Columbia, Fordham or whichever school in the city they prefer.

And it's easy to use, said Tisch sophomore Sarah Wharton.

"It probably took me about three minutes to set it up and request a ride," she said.

Although Carpool has been widely adopted at Cornell, where it has more than 1,300 students signed up, students at NYU are slowly beginning to warm up to the new application. Only 70 NYU students have signed up so far.

However, the application may be used differently at NYU because of its urban location, said Jeremy Friedman, an administrator and project manager for the NYU's Sustainability Task Force.

"NYU is very unusual, because so few students drive regularly to campus," he said.

Less than 10 percent of students drive to campus at NYU, Friedman said. At other universities, he said parking lots full of cars can make up 30 percent of their emissions.

Wharton believes the initiative is a step in the right direction.

"I think that it is almost impossible to do anything without it having an impact on the environment," she said. "From buying a bottle of water or a cup of coffee, to walking to class instead of taking the bus or the subway, every choice you make is going to make a difference."

But, unfortunately, she hasn't found a car buddy just yet.

"So far I have had no success in getting a ride," she said. "B ut there is no harm in trying."

Eric Platt is a staff writer. E-mail him at features@nyunews.com.