NEW ONLINE RIDE-SHARING PROGRAM REWARDS COMMUTERS
County Executive invites employees to get “Frequent Rider Miles”;
First such program in New York

      These days, you wouldn’t dream of flying anywhere without earning frequent flier miles with your airline carrier.  Now you could earn rewards by sharing a ride to work while reducing traffic congestion.

County Executive Andy Spano announced today a new online ride-sharing program that is now available to employees of county government and Westchester corporations.  Westchester is the first location in New York state for the introduction of this free service, called NuRide, which helps people share the ride to work and rewards them when they do so.

“This is a true innovation in commuting,” Spano said.  “The ultimate rewards for sharing rides to work – reducing congestion, improving air quality – are just not as real and tangible to people as the incentive of a gift certificate and the lure of what I call ‘frequent rider miles.’”

By arranging trips with other commuters, employees earn points – 100 points or $1 for each one-way ride – that they can redeem for gift cards starting with a minimum $10 value at participating retailers like Jet Blue, Brookstone and XM Satellite Radio.  Commuters log on to www.nuride.com and enter their starting point, destination and times of departure and return.  The system then matches riders and drivers for a single trip or several as desired.  At the end of the ride, rider and driver both log on again to confirm the trip was taken and receive their NuRide points, called NuRide miles.

There is no commitment needed.  Since NuRide is a ride-share program, not a carpool system, commuters can share the ride daily, once a week or once a month without the commitment of a regular carpool.  Trips need not be just for work, but also for other reasons such as shopping and recreation.

There are currently 185 county employees who have indicated their interest in giving it a try.  The county employs 5,000 employees and Spano urged them to sign up.

“Westchester County is one of the largest employers in the area,” said Spano.  “We are also in the midst of very trying times for some Westchester commuters.  I am asking our county employees to sign up for NuRide and help alleviate some of that struggle.  We are setting the example, and I urge Westchester corporations to do the same and bring this new service to their employees to explore online.”

The New York Department of Transportation, together with its Connecticut counterpart, provides the funding for MetroPool, Inc., a mobility company, to work with NuRide in launching the program in the region. 

 “We welcome innovations that will help reduce single occupancy vehicle use and improve the commuting experience,” said Robert A. Dennison, Region 8 director of the state DOT.  “NuRide offers a no-cost, high-value benefit to commuters and companies in the crowded I-287 corridor.”

MetroPool President John Lyons said, “With the support of the New York State Department of Transportation, we can make NuRide one of the choices available to area commuters, giving them control and flexibility over their commute.”

While anyone can set up a trip, NuRide users are not riding with total strangers.  Commuters must provide a work email account, which NuRide verifies before listing people on the site.  Users can also include preferences, such as only women or non-smokers.  They can also rate each other in terms of punctuality, courtesy and driving ability, similar to ratings found on eBay.  These ratings are shared with other NuRiders.  To enhance security, NuRide doesn’t release home addresses or phone numbers; members contact each other via a site-based messaging system.

The NuRide program in Westchester has begun with a few corporations here. Employees at Mastercard International, Morgan Stanley, Starwood Hotels and TAL International in Purchase, Swiss Re in Armonk and Reckson Associates in White Plains have signed on to the NuRide website.  A total of 243 employees have already joined since January in Westchester County alone and an additional 200 have joined up in Fairfield County.  In the last 3 months, these Westchester NuRiders have earned rewards worth $2,534, removed 1,051 cars from the roads and reduced gas emissions by an estimated 12 tons.

    County government employees can get more information on the program from their internal employee Intranet site or call Mary Ellen Burns at (914) 813-7741.  Interested Westchester companies can log on to www.nuride.com and click the employer link.

As always, for more information and for any of your commute needs, please call Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at (914) 995-4444, or e-mail us at
tvo1@westchestergov.com