Palmerston North City Council and the
Greater Wellington Regional Council have joined forces to launch a
new carpool website set to become the market leader in New Zealand
for commuter carpooling.
Over the past few months, Palmerston
North City Council has worked closely with Greater Wellington
Regional Council, with support from the New Zealand Transport
Agency (NZTA), to develop a national carpooling service and brand.
The new website is now live at www.letscarpool.govt.nz.
Let's Carpool offers a free, secure
service to help individuals find a carpool match for their regular
commute, one-off trips and inter-regional trips. The partnership
between Palmerston North City Council and the Greater Wellington
Regional Council has been established to create a single carpooling
service that is trustworthy, reliable, easy to use, with high
quality matches and excellent customer service.
Palmerston North City Council's
Project coordinator for Sustainability, William van Ausdal, says
the new website will capitalise on the success of the rideshare
site and provide a fantastic gateway for other regions in New
Zealand looking to join. The Auckland, Waikato,
Taranaki and Nelson regions have already signed up as
partners.
"The goal is to increase awareness
and understanding of the benefits of carpooling as a viable form of
transport. As more people choose carpooling as their preferred
transport option, we expect to see easier matches, increased usage
and a subsequent decrease in both congestion and single-occupancy
trips, both within our region and inter-regionally, particularly
between provincial towns and rural areas, to Palmerston North and
Wellington."
The new site includes features such
as email alerts which will allow users to sign up for automatic
updates on new carpool matches. A mobile version of the site has
also been developed for smart phone and tablet users.
Additionally, users will be able to
link their 'Let's Carpool' profile to their Facebook or Twitter
account. The home page of the new website features a savings
calculator so motorists can see the savings they are making by
choosing carpooling. This is based on fuel price, journey distance
and the number of passengers in the car.
Everyone in Palmerston North who signs up to the programme will
be entered into a monthly draw for a Uniden IGO500 GPS unit for
their car.
Join now to go into the prize draw!