New App That Makes Carpooling A More Convenient Way To Commute
BOSTON (CBS) -- What if there was a way to make getting to work easier, and a lot more fun? Thanks to local software engineer Tawheed Raheem and his new app TripBuddy, there is.
After commuting every day, Raheem got tired of the frustration and long commute times. He decided to quit his job to work on a solution to the problem that thousands of commuters face: how to make carpooling more convenient.
"Commuters enter their home and work address and will be automatically matched with any co-worker who shares their commute route and they can even split the cost of gas," Raheem explained.
Juleen Wong and Gautam Chebrolu took advantage of the app and shared their experience.
"Before TripBuddy, me and Juleen were in the same space, we literally sat 50 feet from each other but I had no idea she existed, and she's a cool person, I've gotten to know her, and she's got some great jokes," Chebrolu said.
Raheem says there are multiple benefits to TripBuddy. "If we start taking a bunch of cars off the road and start matching people who are already on the road with other people we're definitely going to reduce congestion on our highways."
Not only will it reduce congestion, but Wong says it has also been about creating new friendships.
"Having a commute like this, that's shared, you have a conversation, it's just so much more healthy. You talk to someone about your weekend, you catch up on how your day has been, about what you are expecting, you can even share some of that pressure with the other person, so it's just mentally also really great," Wong explained.
The app is currently only available in the Apple Store but is being created for Android.