When mentioning the use of trains in Germany, some German friends explained to me they prefer to utilize ridesharing. Is this a newer form of travel that could be useful for tourists as well? Anyone with experience and advice?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Is "ridesharing" the new-age word for "hitchhiking", a transportation method highly favored by backpackers in the 60's ??
Posted by
Atlanta, Georgia
63 posts
There is a website called "Das Schwarze Brett im Internet" www.dsble.de/mitfahren posting opportunities for ridesharing and queries/requests for same. "mitfahren" means ride along. Leave that off the web address and find lots of other categories. Sort of like a Craigs List....Schwarzes Brett means bulletin board.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
In southern CA "ridesharing" means companies like Uber and Lyft. Don't know if that transfers to Germany...
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
"Mitfahrgelegenheit" or "Mitfahrzentrale" is a form of ridesharing that has been around for quite a while. I used that a lot as a student 25 years ago ...
It basically connects people who are planning to drive with their own car from A to B and have an empty seat in their car with people who are looking for a ride to that destination on the same day and are willing to participate in the fuel cost. For the driver this is usually a free service, the "Mitfahrer" pays a portion of the fuel cost to the driver.
Definitely not the same as hitchhiking as drivers and riders have to be registered with the service provider. Quite a bit safer. And not the same as Uber as the drivers do not provide a kind of taxi service. They would do the trip A to B anyways with or without additional drivers, just want extra company and/or money for fuel.