Find A Ride And Get Abducted!

With cars getting more and more expensive these days you are going to have more and more people needing to hitch a ride. And with the following two sites it will make it even easier to find that ride and/or get kidnapped when doing so.

First up is Google's Rider Finder. With ride finder you will be able to see what taxi/limo/shuttle service is in your area to get you out on the road as quickly as possible. This service is tied into Google maps and is updated after you click on the "Update Vehicle Locations" button located right underneath the map. Then just click on one of the dots that represent a taxi service of some sort and give the number a call. All the phone numbers are the same for any given company in the same area, so just keep an eye open for the same color dot of your favorite service to give them a call. The only problem that i saw with this service is that some of the taxi/shuttle services don't appear to participate in the program any more. Just be sure to hit that update button a few time before you go to make that call for a ride. If the dot's don't move within the first 2 updates, then don't bother calling.

The other service is Ridester. Here you are able to plan any route you want to or see if anyone is offering a ride that way. With a feedback system, ratings system and detailed user profiles, you can find who would be the best driving companion. And you can also suggest a price for your ride, in order to differ the cost of the trip. Taking a look through the available rides, it would seem that this site is mostly for trips of a much longer duration. So, depending on what you like, you might want to take some extra time in picking a driver/rider for your trip.

Both services seem great, but it would seem that Ride Finder would be a bit more practical. But then again, you might be in the need for a cross state trip and would be able to save some money by using Ridester. Ride Finder seems a bit more safe in my opinion, but feel free to go with your gut. Just be sure to bring your towel.

via LifeHacker [Ridester]