Web site aims to cut your taxi fare in half

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer | MNaanes@am-ny.com

September 13, 2007

A recently launched Web site wants commuters to say "hola" to a new way of saving on cab fare and finding friendship.

Rideamigos.com allows New Yorkers to search through or contribute their own commute itineraries, which are listed chronologically, and then coordinate shared fares with other Web site users for regular or one-time rides.

"My goal is to really just connect people that take cabs alone anyway or people whose commute is long and they can get there in 15 minutes by cab," said one of the site's founders, Jeffrey Chernick.

He and best friend Evan Meyer, both originally from Long Island, created the site when Chernick's Upper East Side day job asked him to start coming in earlier. The Alphabet City resident wanted to cut down on his 50-minute walk-and-subway commute and avoid losing sleep without paying a $12-a-day cab fare.

Chernick figured commuters, especially those working long hours with complicated commutes, could benefit from sharing a ride.

So Rideamigos.com was born and now joins the ranks of other cab sharing sites, like hitchsters.com for airport rides and Craigslist. Registered users contact each other for free through posts on the site, which also offers a printable discount card for restaurants and stores.

Chernick expects the service may upset some cabbies, but he also thinks drivers could gain some customers who have difficult commutes. Some cab drivers said fare sharing is already a reality -- especially during rush hour -- and drivers wouldn't know a shared ride was set up on a Web site.

While he wouldn't have a problem with such cab pools during rush hour, driver Jun Eng said it could hurt cabbies' business during slower times of day.

"After the rush hour we'd be hanging out with less fares," he said.

So far, 100 people posted a ride in the New York section of the site, which will include other cities, and 400 have registered, Chernick said. One of the first to use the site was a neighbor of Chernick's, someone he had never met.

Abigail Robinson saw Rideamigos.com on Daily Candy, an e-mail newsletter and Web site, and searched the postings.

When she saw Chernick's anonymous post, and that the ride originated on her block and continued to where she worked, she started fare sharing with Chernick for $6 a piece.

It's a "marginal" $4 more than the subway but worth the convenience, Robinson said. "You get to sleep an extra 45 minutes," she said.