Jisha Surya
First Published : 05 Jan 2011
Initially, the techies cold-shouldered carpooling when it was first introduced in Technopark in May 2009. At the time, the idea of sharing a car seemed impractical for most of them. Whether it is the petrol price hike or the comfort factor which turned the matter in the right direction is yet to be proven, but carpooling is gaining popularity. The number of techies registering their names with the carpooling websites is now showing a steep rise.
The idea was put forward by the Group of Technology Companies (GTech) as part of its green computing initiative. The starting trouble later gave way to a safe ride. Now, carpooling is working effectively - both on a daily and weekly basis.
Interested persons can register their names with the carpooling website. The person must submit his employee ID number and other official details in order to prove that he is a Technopark employee. Only employees of GTech companies can register their names. Details, including destination, registration number of the car, number of seats available, phone number and time should be given along with each post.
Arun G Nair, senior software engineer at Palnar Transmedia at Technopark, regularly uses the carpooling facility. He offers daily trips on his Swift plying from Sreekariyam to Technopark. Once, he registered for a long-distance trip. ‘’One weekend when I had to travel to Palakkad for a marriage, I registered at the site. I got three responses. Two were going to Thrissur and one to Palakkad. We shared the fuel bill and found it very economical,’’ he said.
‘’I think the petrol price hike is one of the reasons for the popularity of carpooling. I also got good responses from friends on their carpooling experiences. Being economical is, of course, the most attractive feature. Apart from that, getting company of friends during travel is good, especially for long-distance travel. If they know driving, it will be more helpful. Since most of the people are from Technopark, it is easy to find a rapport with them,’’ Arun said.
‘’Users will get notifications of new posts through e-mails. Those who have specified their destinations will get mail accordingly,’’ Arun added.
Binu Karunakaran, CEO, GTech, said the number of persons registering with the site increases for weekend trips. ‘’Most register on Thursday, so that there will be responses from people going home on weekends,’’ he said.
Binu, whose hometown is Kollam, initially shared his friend Padmakumar’s car. ‘’After the first few trips, all the three persons going to Kollam became friends and now it’s a routine. We share similar interests and the journey has become more fun,” he said. ‘’The idea first conceived as part of the green computing initiative has been active for the past one year,’’ he said.
Apart from the official carpooling site of GTech, http://www.parkcarpool.in/, the techies also post their carpooling details to discussion forums such as mytechnopark.com and tpbazaar.com.
jisha@expressbuzz.com
First Published : 05 Jan 2011
Initially, the techies cold-shouldered carpooling when it was first introduced in Technopark in May 2009. At the time, the idea of sharing a car seemed impractical for most of them. Whether it is the petrol price hike or the comfort factor which turned the matter in the right direction is yet to be proven, but carpooling is gaining popularity. The number of techies registering their names with the carpooling websites is now showing a steep rise.
The idea was put forward by the Group of Technology Companies (GTech) as part of its green computing initiative. The starting trouble later gave way to a safe ride. Now, carpooling is working effectively - both on a daily and weekly basis.
Interested persons can register their names with the carpooling website. The person must submit his employee ID number and other official details in order to prove that he is a Technopark employee. Only employees of GTech companies can register their names. Details, including destination, registration number of the car, number of seats available, phone number and time should be given along with each post.
Arun G Nair, senior software engineer at Palnar Transmedia at Technopark, regularly uses the carpooling facility. He offers daily trips on his Swift plying from Sreekariyam to Technopark. Once, he registered for a long-distance trip. ‘’One weekend when I had to travel to Palakkad for a marriage, I registered at the site. I got three responses. Two were going to Thrissur and one to Palakkad. We shared the fuel bill and found it very economical,’’ he said.
‘’I think the petrol price hike is one of the reasons for the popularity of carpooling. I also got good responses from friends on their carpooling experiences. Being economical is, of course, the most attractive feature. Apart from that, getting company of friends during travel is good, especially for long-distance travel. If they know driving, it will be more helpful. Since most of the people are from Technopark, it is easy to find a rapport with them,’’ Arun said.
‘’Users will get notifications of new posts through e-mails. Those who have specified their destinations will get mail accordingly,’’ Arun added.
Binu Karunakaran, CEO, GTech, said the number of persons registering with the site increases for weekend trips. ‘’Most register on Thursday, so that there will be responses from people going home on weekends,’’ he said.
Binu, whose hometown is Kollam, initially shared his friend Padmakumar’s car. ‘’After the first few trips, all the three persons going to Kollam became friends and now it’s a routine. We share similar interests and the journey has become more fun,” he said. ‘’The idea first conceived as part of the green computing initiative has been active for the past one year,’’ he said.
Apart from the official carpooling site of GTech, http://www.parkcarpool.in/, the techies also post their carpooling details to discussion forums such as mytechnopark.com and tpbazaar.com.
jisha@expressbuzz.com
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