Community Rideshare for a Small City

Empty seats in private vehicles move across regions over a large service area at a high frequency. Decades of publicity campaigns have denounced hitchhiking as dangerous despite a lack of objective evidence that indicated increased security risks. Even so, drivers in and around the small metropolis of Lawrence, Kansas, demonstrated that they were willing to share their empty seats with people who used the Lawrence OnBoard rideshare system, which had its basis in hitchhiking. Lawrence OnBoard gathered data on 121 rides in initial system trials, interviewed 18 riders, and solicited mail-in surveys from participating drivers. For more than half of the 121 trips, riders waited fewer than 5 min on the roadside before someone provided a ride. Two important factors that contributed to the quick pickups were the rider's choice of pickup location and a clear declaration of desired destination presented on an official-looking ride board. The 5% of trip attempts that proved fruitless were quickly remedied by a change in pickup location. Rider interviews indicated that people felt anxiety before a pickup and then felt comfortable with their drivers as long as the vehicle had adequate room and had working seat belts and no one was smoking. Lawrence OnBoard's experience can serve as a possible model to increase rideshare and mobility in cities smaller than the typical major metropolises known for dynamic carpool (or slugging) systems.