Web site putting kids in carpools

Scripps Howard News Service

Must credit Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By CRISTINA ROUVALIS

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Every harried mother and father knows the logistical headaches of taking their children to assorted soccer practices, gymnastics class, day camps and on and on.

And in the era of $4 a gallon gasoline and gas-slurping SUVs and minivans, it's also getting expensive to play chauffeur to your kids. Summer, once a lazy time of the year, offers no respite from the nonstop kiddie activities and high gas bills.

So why not carpool?

It is hardly a novel idea, but a Web site, www.dividetheride.com, aims to simplify the logistics while making soccer moms and dads greener.

The free service, used by some 25,000 parents nationwide, enables a parent to go online and enter their children's activities and invite families they want to join the carpool. The Web site then establishes a carpool calendar and sends reminder messages via e-mails and text messages to cell phones.

"It is a great organizational tool," said Debbie Koke, spokesman for the Web service. "It sends reminders to cell phones and e-mail. 'You have the soccer carpool today.' If soccer is canceled, it will send an alert.' "

The site, launched in October 2007, was started by Hartford, Conn., father Bryn Tindall, who noticed all the SUVs and minivans at the athletic field parking lot. Pennsylvania has the 10th largest number of users of any state.

Koke said the site is safe and secure and is only shared among participating parents. It requires password for log-on.

But child advocates question the need to post information on a child's whereabouts on a computer database.

"The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cautions parents and guardians from divulging information about their children," said Nancy A. McBride, national safety director for the organization. "They should also be certain they personally know and trust everyone in the carpool."

The Web site has a disclaimer that says that no data transmission over the Internet is 100 percent secure and that it cannot guarantee the security of the information.

But Koke said Dividetheride.com has never has a complaint about a security breach. The site says parents can safeguard the information by not sharing the password, and putting only vague information about the child's whereabouts. "You don't have to put in much detail," she said.

(E-mail Cristina Rouvalis at crouvalis(at)post-gazette.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)