A 21ST-century version of car pooling will be trialled in Tauranga in an effort to unlock rush-hour congestion on the city's clogged main roads.
Called Rideshare, the system aims to reduce the main cause of peak-time congestion - the fact that 90 per cent of cars on our roads have only one occupant.
People who live in the same part of town and travel to work at the same time to the same general destination will be able to link up via a computer website.
Rideshare is catching on overseas, either within large workplaces or as a public service for commuters looking to save money and help the environment.
It is one of a number of initiatives being examined by Mayor Stuart Crosby's transportation task force - a working group of councillors and staff seeking short-term solutions to the city's worsening traffic woes.
But before Rideshare is rolled out to the public, the task force wants to trial it using Tauranga City Council's own internal computer system, which links 350 staff.
Council staff wanting to share the drive to work will be able to log on to a website where their details are matched up with others in similar circumstances. Emails would then go out to members of the potential car pool.
Cr Rick Curach, who has researched Rideshare, said security and privacy were maintained by the email not containing any personal details - only saying that a match had been found, and offering the email address of the potential car pool member.
This would set off an exchange of emails between potential car poolers, leading to personal contact to discuss the details. Cr Curach said there would always be issues of compatibility, such as whether a person liked to smoke going to work, or preferred to listen to music.
Fundamental to any corporate or city-wide system was the council's computerised map-based geographic information system. This took the address guesswork out of match-ups.
Mr Crosby said that once the pitfalls had been identified, Rideshare could be expanded to other major city employers, followed by the creation of a public website to give everyone the chance to form their own car pools.
Council communications manager Elizabeth Hughes said Rideshare could be operating in the council by September, along similar lines to Canterbury University's scheme, which is detailed on the website www.sustain.canterbury.ac.nz.
Other helpful sites are www.carpoolworld.com and the Australian version, www.icarpool.com.au.
Ms Hughes said Rideshare appeared to work better where there was flexibility in the car pool.
People were not committing to five-day-a-week arrangements and it seemed to work better where agreements started small, such as two days a week.
Cr Curach said the council could encourage widespread adoption of the scheme by offering incentives such as a discounts for parking buildings.
The economics were expected to become even more convincing as petrol prices continued to soar, car parking charges increased, and the council's $210 million Harbour Link toll road was built.
The taskforce sees Rideshare as part of the big mix of ideas to reduce traffic congestion.
It will build on the existing Bay Hopper bus service, the planned new fast-ferry between Mount Maunganui and downtown Tauranga, a webcam traffic snarl-up alert service monitoring major intersections, and a proposed park-and-ride bus service.
TOP STORY: Car pool: Is this the answer to gridlock
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