utopia without greenwash market place, grass roots coordination of citizens to solve the problem of transportation - utopian.
No. Practiced for about 10 years here in Germany through a website called www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de (translated something like "opportunity-to-catch-a-ride") - a nifty site lets you post trips you take and thus advertise the spare seats in your car at a price you set.

This means several things:
cheap trips all over Germany and many other countries - for individuals.
fully occupied cars instead of many cars with just one person inside - for the environment.
shared petrol costs - for the driver.

So I had the fortune to take three other people to on my trip to Frankfurt and back, which made the ride also more interesting than just having to depend on the radio for entertainment. And I am a total fan of the way this website works.

And best of all: without ideological fanfare - even though this is one of the greenest things I know. A lot to learn from.
(one reflection I had is that it works because of the money involved. cheap trips. shared fuel.)  ¶ 5:06 PM 1 Comments