carpoolingIf you’ve got a long distance drive ahead of you and want to save some cash while reducing your carbon footprint, a new app just launched in the U.S. that might be of interest.

European ride-sharing company Carpooling made its U.S. debut today, offering people a way to share rides for road trips that average 125 miles.

Carpooling has operated all over Europe for the past 10 years and racked up more than six million users, but stayed away from the States until now.

The service is similar to Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, but Carpooling operates less as a taxi service and more as a pure ride-sharing platform that connects people going in the same direction.

The platform is fairly simple: Users can post available seats when planning a trip, and those interested in carpooling can sign up to join. Drivers can see other riders on a map, and everyone splits travel costs. Payments are made via PayPal and users are asked to rate one another after each ride.

carpooling6543“Our concept is simple: turn empty car seats into a cost-effective, eco-friendly, and fun mode of transportation,” Carpooling CEO Markus Barnikel said in a statement. “We recognize there won’t be an abundance of passengers and drivers connected with each other at launch, but we’re confident from more than a decade of experience in Europe that supply and demand will grow rapidly.”

Carpooling also announced a partnership with Uber today, allowing users to hail an Uber ride directly within the app to take them to their Carpooling meeting point or have them ready at the arrival spot.

It will be interesting to see if Uber, Lyft, or Sidecar try to compete with Carpooling. The idea is similar to Zimride, which was created by Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green, who sold the company to Enterprise in July 2013. Uber, meanwhile, recently launched a long-distance service in Florida called UberHighway.

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