Need a lift? GoManitoba app can connect you with a driver

A new app could help Manitobans find the perfect commuting partner.

The ride-sharing app GoManitoba will match commuters based on similar needs and transportation options.

"We've hear a lot of people say they'd like to carpool and they would like to travel more sustainably, but they just need a little help in figuring out how to get started or how to find a carpool partner," said Beth McKechnie with the Green Action Centre, the Manitobaenvironmental groupbringing the app to the province.

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McKechnie says the free app, which officially launches Wednesday, is simple to use.

Just head to the GoManitoba website, register and enter your trip profile information including your point of departure, destinationand the time of daythe trips would take place.

"It comes back with potential matches in terms of other people who are on a similar route that you could share a ride with," McKechnie said. "It also comes back with transit routes or bike routes and walking routes."

The app is available across the province, and McKechnie said municipalities are signing up to have custom-branded websites for the app.

"Some of the rural communities outside of Winnipeg, there are a lot that don't have access to transit so carpooling is really easy and practical, and it saves a lot of money," she said.

Some businesses have signed up for their employees, she added. The appcan also be used to arrange everything from atrip to the beach to a ride to school.

While the app will help people save money by reducing use of their own car, McKechniesays, it will also bring people together.

"The more people that sign up the more successful it will be for everyone," she said.

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