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!

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.

Jayride is now a happy bubbling 6 month old!

2100+ members in 6 months, with little or no marketing budget, in the very niche field of carpooling is hella impressive we think!

We’d just like to take a second to say THANKS! to everyone who’s signed up as a member and started to make this community what it is.

We love you all!

Jayride got some of nice media coverage lately! You can view it all online too.

Check out Sam Giffney of Zenbu fame helping us promote Jayride in Auckland on Tamati’s Transport Tiki Tours

Or see Chris Hopkins the old-school ex-scarfie helping us promote it in Dunedin with Jayride Aims To Reduce Number Of Vehicles On The Road

If you’d like to talk us up in the media, we’d like to hear from you too!

We’ve come a long way since our launch in December last year, and we couldn’t have done it without you, our great kiwi carpoolers! Congratulations for showing New Zealand that sustainable transport really is that easy.

Very soon we’ll be celebrating our 2000th member. In addition to our undying love and affection, we’re going to reward that special person with a wee $50 fuel voucher to spend how they like…

If you’d like to be in to win it, simply register with Jayride here. To find out your member number, share a ride then take a look at the bottom to see your ID. If you don’t share a ride, that’s OK, but you won’t know if you’ve won until we email you :)

We know it’s small, but we hope it’s the thought that counts. And as a final thought to the winner, don’t forget that a petrol card is the perfect way to pay the driver of the next rideshare you take…

Enjoy!

Do you want to be on TV?

From 7am to 8.30am on Thursday 14th May, Tamati will be at Britomart in Auckland and wants to interview Jayride members!

If you carpool in Auckland, have ever rideshared with Jayride, are passionate about sustainability, or just want to be on TV, head down to Britomart on Thursday next week and join in the fun.

They’ll also be giving out prizes for people who show up on sustainable modes of transport.

If you’d like to know more – visit TVNZ or contact us.

We know you’re all waiting for the final breakdown of the Jayride Challenge. While our resident geniuses crunch the numbers, go take a look at another great New Zealand startup.

Celsias.com helps individuals, companies and organisations do practical things to combat climate change. We like it!

If you’re looking for inspiration to lead a greener life then make sure to sign up. It’s free! You’ll get access to a wealth of great ideas for bringing a little green to your day. Be sure to check out ridesharing and Jayride when you do!

Written by James Beech, journalist for the Otago Daily Times and the Queenstown Times about the upcoming Jayride Challenge.

Online car-pooling service

A NEW online ride-sharing service aims to prove car-pooling works as a way to save money and the environment, by inviting anyone to join a ride from Auckland to Queenstown.

Jayride was founded by Auckland entrepreneurs Rod Bishop and Ross Lin.  Mr Bishop will drive a car, courtesy of sponsor Ace, from the city on Monday and arrive in the resort on February 5.

If Jayride makes it from Auckland to Queenstown, filling spare seats for the whole trip, it will show Kiwis can share any ride they want, whenever they want, Mr Bishop said.

The Jayride Challenge will be blogged with photography from the road at news.jayride.co.nz.

Mr Bishop said the idea started with hitch.net.nz, a car-pooling service he started two years ago and based on a German model.  The service’s popularity prompted the rename and launch of Jayride last December.

Jayride.co.nz was receiving 20,000 page views a month and 200 new members  were registering every three weeks, he said.

It has become New Zealand’s largest public ride-sharing service, with more than 1450 members sharing 14.500 rides around the country.  Registration and searches were free, and travel costs were met by ride sharers.

“In tight financial times, domestic travel is a cost-saving alternative to overseas holidays, especially when New Zealand’s greatest destinations are now cheaper than ever to reach with Jayride.” Mr Bishop said.

“Ride-sharing is a way for New Zealanders to save money on travel expenses and to reduce their carbon footprint.  Emissions from motor vehicles are responsible for New Zealand being the sixth worst polluter per capita in the world.”

Ace Rental Cars are the official sponsor of the wheels beneath the Jayride Rideshare Challenge. Jayride will be carpooling from Auckland to Queenstown using a compact Ace Rental Car.

Ace Rental Cars is committed to doing their part to reduce their environmental impact. They are a member of Greenfleet, an initiative from NZ’s Sustainable Business Network, determined to reduce the harmful environmental effects of travel in NZ. Sounds good to us!

Jayride and Ace Rental Cars; keeping NZ beautiful… and getting you around it for nix.

The Jayride Rideshare Challenge release has just been published on Scoop. Interest from travelers, rental car companies and the media is picking up. The Jayride Ridehsare Challenge is set to be a big statement on sustainability!

The scoop release is linked below:

20-01-09 – Jayride Cheap and Green Alternatives for NZ

New Zealand’s biggest online ride-sharing service, Jayride, will carpool from Auckland to Queenstown commencing 26 January. Jayride will remind kiwis of NZ’s iconic destinations, and prove ride-sharing works as an easy way to save money and combat climate change… more