This isn't an endorsement. I've never laid a fingerprint on an iPhone. But if you have an iPhone and you need a ride — maybe you could afford gas until you started paying those monthy iPhone bills — maybe you'd like to check out an iPhone app called Carticipate.

It's for finding a rider, or a ride, on the fly. It's either the next big thing or the next goofy thing, or both.

“It’s a new wrinkle on ride-sharing, which basically is mobile
and location-aware,"  Steffen Frost of somewhere in California, one of the creators of Carticipate, said by voice mail.

"Since the phone is location-aware, it already knows where you’re at. You just say where you’re going and it broadcasts that." ...

Joining other Triangle universities that help faculty, staff and students pay for transit service, Duke University says it will offer reduced-price bus passes at discounts of more than 60 percent.

A 30-day pass for Durham Area Transit Authority buses, for example, which normally sells for $36, will cost $12 for Duke community members.  A 30-day Triangle Transit / Capital Area Transit regional pass priced at $64 will be available for $24. Other options also are offered.

The sharply reduced rates are offered for Duke faculty and staff members who renew the passes regularly and pay for them by payroll deduction, and for students through their accounts with the university bursar.  Those who pay by cash or check will be charged slightly higher prices.

Details are online at http://www.parking.duke.edu/buspass

Other Triangle universities previously have made moves to subsidize transit service.

Students, faculty and staff at N.C. State University ride Triangle Transit and CAT buses for free, and Meredith College community members also get a free ride on CAT.

Chapel Hill Transit’s fare-free service relies heavily on subsidies from UNC-Chapel Hill, and from $66 in yearly fees paid by each student.

Duke also has a carpool program that includes free campus parking with carpools of four riders or more.  Details are at http://www.parking.duke.edu/ or by phone at 684-7275.

Looking for a ride or a rider? Driving yourself to work can get really expensive, and really lonely.

When I talked last week with commuters who are tired of driving alone ("Riding out the hard times"), many were frustrated about their inability to find carpool partners. Surely someone would be glad to ride with Keith Hargraves from south of Garner to the Yonkers Road / WakeMed area in East Raleigh. Or with Debbie Knight, who makes the awful trek from Raleigh to Greensboro.

Here's a longer version [updated 8/31/08 with info for carpool-seeking school parents], with links, of my tips for ...

FINDING A CARPOOL / VANPOOL MATE