Jayride Australia is now alive! 19 months to the day since we opened our doors in New Zealand, we have begun our steps towards bringing our unique brand of green travel to the world.

Jayride is Australia’s new, best carpool and rideshare travel website. In not long at all we’ll be helping Aussies and travelers to share a ride from Sydney up the east coast, or even cross that big ol’ desert in the middle. We reckon this will be a great service for backpackers, people looking to find travel buddies, and Sydney-siders looking to split the cost of all those god-awful tolls.

Honestly though. “Jayride brings carpooling to Australia“… it has a nice ring to it! Tell your friends!

You’re sharing a ride with Jayride and want to know how much to charge for your carpool…

Or, your planning to travel around New Zealand and need to know how much money to budget for fuel…

We know a site that can help you: http://pricewatch.co.nz/

Pricewatch contains the latest information on petrol, diesel and LPG prices from around New Zealand. Prices are broken up by region and by petrol station brand so you can quickly find which fuel prices are most relevant for you.

In short: An excellent, VERY useful site. Go take a look… here

So, you want to travel New Zealand for your Christmas break. Being a “staycationer” is cheaper than going abroad… or maybe your an overseas tourist and travel to New Zealand is cheaper than staying home. Either way good on you!

You probably know where you want to go, but how to get there? What you need is some alternative travel advice!

NZ is beautiful. But you wouldn’t know it from a passenger airline. Flights miss the beauty, so this summer we recommend travel by land.

You could always take a bus. If you’re a foreigner maybe a bus package would be more your style…

But hey what about some real alternatives:

Hitchhiking is fun!
1) there’s no better way to see the landscape than from roadside.
2) there’s no better way to meet the locals than from the passenger seat.
If you don’t like the idea of waiting for a lift then plan ahead! Click share a ride on Jayride and find your drivers ahead of time.

Or stay in the driving seat. Get a rental car, then share your itinerary, and find passengers to contribute to your holiday costs (and holiday fun)!

You could always share a plane ride – and not the jumbo jet kind either :)

And as a final option for anyone stuck in Auckland, how about a beautiful ferry ride from Auckland to Coromandel? Get way, way away from town for as long as you like – no car required!

Where is everyone going for summer? If you read this let us know in comments below! I always love to hear other people’s travel ideas – and hell, maybe Jayride can help you get there.

Happy Summer!

We don’t normally like to blow our own trumpet, but we’ve been getting some really great feedback lately on Jayride and I thought I’d share some of it. In addition to Dunedin regional councils deciding to work with us, and various raving fans on Twitter (like @philipnewmannz and @velofille), today we received this email from Lex B:

SERIOUSLY! This is without a doubt the best site I have stumbled accross in
2009! You guys need to get you bums into gear and get some advertising going on! Send all your members bumper stickers or something, to get the word out there. I live in Auckland city and have told everyone at work this morning and they agreed what a great idea it was and have browsed the site. Two people have now found transport! We need more people knowing that this site exists! You cant come up with a good idea like this and then act like its a secret… Billboards, posters, and stickers, even advertise in the “ADSHELL” inserts in bus stops! You’ll get everyone onto the idea! Love your work guys, lets get everyone onto this!

Pretty cool huh? This makes us feel all warm and fuzzy.

Word of mouth is a pretty major thing for us – so if you are also a raving fan, you can help by getting talking and spreading the word. Remember, Jayride’s all about connecting people, so the more friends you convince to join us, the more rides you’re going to find! Help yourself :) and have a great weekend.

For the independent backpacker, travel on a tight budget is an every-day reality. Getting from A to B when you can’t afford even the cheapest bus ticket can sometimes be tough! Still, it’s important not to let money hold you back, especially when cheap travel can be one of the most exciting things you’ll do in New Zealand.

Hitchhiking

Hitch hiking in New Zealand is legal and comparatively safe. Kiwi’s are usually a friendly bunch and will regularly stop to pick up hitch-hikers in need. If you’re on a budget and not in a hurry, hitching is a great option for travel in NZ.

Increase your chances of getting picked up by being prepared. A tidy appearance is very important, for guys make sure you’ve shaved recently. If you are carrying a large backpack, keep it visible; people are more likely to stop for foreign travelers as they’re usually friendly and tell better stories. Finally, and most importantly, prepare a sign that says where you are going with “please” and “thank you” included; it really does pay to be polite. A sign is also good for use as an umbrella if the weather turns bad.

Stay safe when hitch hiking by using common sense. Stand a safe distance back from the road! If you’re ever in someone’s car and you feel unsafe, simply ask the driver to pull over. Finally if you have a phone, txt your whereabouts and the license-plate number of your ride to a friend just in-case anything goes wrong.

Internet Ridesharing

If hitchhiking makes you feel unsafe, or the thought of waiting by the road in the rain turns you off, then why not try Internet ridesharing? Carpool and rideshare websites are a great resource for backpacker travel in New Zealand.

Jayride is a New Zealand carpool and rideshare website perfectly designed to help travelers get around. Free to use, backpackers can register to contact other travelers and arrange to share rides. Jayride’s secure email makes meeting people safer, so it’s a great way to meet travel-mates with which to backpack the country.

For travelers thinking of renting a car, sharing rides online is a great way to save money on travel. For independent travelers, looking online first could save you hours by the roadside!

Save money, have more fun

New Zealand is best traveled by road, and for independent backpackers hitching is a great way to go. Hitching or online ride-sharing lets you see more on the road and meet more people, stop in more interesting places and see more sights. Even better, it does all of this while saving you money. Try it roadside, or online at www.jayride.co.nz

Its hard to find time to write a great blog post… just as hard as it is to read them. Although “web-gurus” will expound the benefits of writing blog posts so that Google can find them, we’d much rather be read by People :P Especially NZ traveler types with their limited net time in expensive internet cafes…

So with that in mind – Jayride is now on Twitter! Get your Jayride fix in seconds at http://twitter.com/Jayride.

We’ll be using our twitter to keep everyone up to date with the latest green and transport news from around NZ and the absolute best Jayride rideshares – like this one.

Come follow us at @Jayride :D

Sick of the traffic jams? Want an easy way to reduce your impact on the environment? Aucklander Sarah Painter has a solution – she is organising Auckland’s first carpool day on Wednesday 5 August 2009.

Sarah says that Carpool Day is about trying out carpooling.

“It might sound like a crazy idea but we’d like Aucklanders to have a go for one day – share their cars, make a difference to the Auckland traffic situation, do something positive for the environment, save themselves money, and have fun with some friends.

“We’ve set up a website www.carpoolday.com where people can make a pledge to carpool on Carpool Day, find out more about carpooling, and get advice on finding fellow carpoolers. We’re hoping that people will be so interested in the idea of Carpool Day they’ll encourage their friends and family to pledge as well. Our goal is to have 1,000 people carpool on Carpool Day.

“Carpooling may be something people try and then continue doing, or maybe it won’t. By having a go on Wednesday 5 August, you’ll get to make a difference to the traffic and to the environment, and find out if carpooling is something you want to do more regularly.”

Sarah, an environmental educator, was inspired by her partner Ian who carpools to work every day with family members.

“I got a ride with my partner and his family one day and it was a lot more fun than I’d expected, so then I wanted to help others try out carpooling. I think we all know there are too many cars on the road in Auckland, and for many people, public transport is not a viable option.

“Carpooling is the perfect solution – it saves time, money, fuel, wear and tear on your car, and reduces traffic congestion and air pollution, makes the commute less stressful because the driving is shared, and you get to spend time with friends.”

Carpool Day is an entirely voluntary project – Sarah has roped in friends to help, and is looking for more people to get involved and make it happen. Visit www.carpoolday.com to find out more.

New to the idea of finding a carpool online? Jayride’s of course our favourite site :) but there are plenty more options out there, and by using a combination of multiple sites you’re far more likely to find that rideshare you need.

But hey, if you’re new you might now know where to start…

1) Start here. NZS.com has a very comprehensive listing of carpool sites in NZ and it’s a pretty good place to see what’s out there.

2) Start here. Linkoz has a good travel and carpool directory also.

Without coming across like Big Brother, we’ve been watching you… But mainly we’ve been watching how you use our site and have learned a lot from it :)

One benefit is that we’ve now got plenty of ideas for new features that you’d all love to see. The other is we can give you this great list of tips and tricks for ways to improve your Jayride experience! So without further adue:

How to get the most from carpooling online

1 – Share a return ride

Want your rideshare to get twice the attention? Don’t forget the drive home. There are plenty of reasons why a passenger may only want to travel one way, so if you share them both you could find a different passenger for each. Twice the attention and twice the fun!

2- Add a price, but not too high!

If you drive somewhere regularly, chances are you’ll have a good idea of how much it costs you. Many Jayriders list their rides as free then comment ’split costs’. By listing a price you’re helping potential passengers by sharing your know-how and will generate more interest.

Beware of profiteering though! Although it’s tempting to charge $100 for a ride to the dairy, you’re just going to put potential carpoolers off and end up paying for the whole trip yourself.

3 – Add some via’s

Driving from Auckland to Wellington? Would you consider dropping someone in Hamilton? Of course you would! It’s easy for you and helpful for them.

Jayride let’s you add Via locations on any ride, and by adding a via your ride becomes more helpful for passengers, and easier to find.

4 – Shameless carpool self promotion!

If you’re a regular web-user you’re probably using some other community sites. Share your Jayride listing with your friends on these sites! By pasting the URL of your ride listing onto Facebook, Bebo, Twitter (or wherever) your ride will get lots more attention, and you can still benefit from the safe, secure way that Jayride handles your email and personal details.

Or you could go crazy like one of our fans and make something like this!

We hope this list of ideas helps you out! Give them a go and you’ll more than double your chances of finding a successful carpool. Good luck, and happy Jayriding :)