Got a road trip coming up? Why not use Ridejoy to save yourself the gas money and maybe make a new friend in the process?

The site’s a lot like apartment/room-share site AirBnB. It leverages the power of the web to connect people so that they can use their resources more efficiently — and, of course, save money in the process.

Here’s how it works. You post an upcoming road trip on the site, name your price (sharing the cost of the gas, say) and see who’s interested. Like AirBnB, connections to your real Facebook profile and reviews by others who have met you through the site help establish that you’re not an ax murderer or whatever.

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The site is still small, and still mainly being used for one-off long trips instead of commuting or anything. But it works, at least according to the reviews its users give it. Here’s a typical example:

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I was driving SF to LA for the weekend, so I tried Ridejoy and easily found three great people. Great conversation, was introduced to some cool new music, and my riders covered the gas. Perfect!

— CJ W.

The site’s founders just got a metric assload of money from investors, so maybe it will blow up big and put an end to the monumental waste represented by all those extra single-occupancy cars on the road.

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