Press Release: Poparide expands between the Bow Valley and Calgary

Peer-to-peer Ridesharing Platform Poparide Expands Between the Bow Valley and Calgary

Canmore, AB: Poparide, Western Canada’s largest intercity ridesharing platform, announces it is expanding its service between the Bow Valley and Calgary. Poparide boasts 45,000 registered users who have shared over 2,000,000 km since the service launched in December 2014.

Poparide lets drivers offer empty seats in their cars for people to book online on long-distance journeys, to offset drivers’ costs including gas, insurance and maintenance. The service is most popular in British Columbia and in particular on the Sea-to-Sky corridor between Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler where it transports over 1,000 people a month.

“This year, we are expanding our service to new routes that are underserved by public transit, and where other means of transport are pricey and infrequent” says Flo Devellennes, Poparide CEO. “After studying the Bow Valley corridor, we found some strong similarities with the Sea-to-Sky, namely a lot of people commuting to Calgary, and lots of weekend trips to the mountains — but mostly — expensive bus prices!”.

With the recent launch of the Roambus in the Bow Valley and Uber in Calgary, Devellennes says the last remaining piece is to connect the two locations with ridesharing. “Thanks to the Roambus and Uber, people travelling with Poparide will be able to get to their pickup and drop-off points easily, and this is key to a successful rideshare experience”.

Poparide already has drivers filling their empty seats between Canmore and Calgary, like Georgia, a Canmore Resident. “I’m driving into Calgary most days anyway, and I like to reduce my environmental impact by sharing rides with others. I’ve had really positive experiences with passengers through the Poparide app, and I now regularly drive some people on a weekly basis“.

Drivers can post trips between Golden, Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore and Calgary and collect up to 12c per km from passengers, as prices are capped to ensure drivers don’t profit but cover their costs, in line within Provincial carpooling regulations.

“On the commuter routes between Squamish, Vancouver and Whistler, drivers using Poparide collect up to $500 a month to offset their driving costs. These are significant savings for drivers, and we expect the numbers to be similar for the Bow Valley.” adds Devellennes.

Poparide is among the new breed of for-profit companies driven to create positive impact and change the way business is done. Through technological innovations and new business models there has been a surge in collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer platforms in the global market. “Ultimately, Poparide is a community. Our mission is to help people travel together affordably, meet in the real world, and reduce their environmental footprint” adds Devellennes.

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