Pan Am Games: Rentable passengers hope to cash in

Would you pay a stranger to ride in your car? How about two strangers? A few Toronto-area entrepreneurs hope so, and are offering a very simple service to time-strapped commuters during the Pan Am Games.

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Victoria Zuro is one of a handful of people offering, for a fee, to help drivers meet the three-occupants minimum needed to drive in the lanes reserved for high-occupancy vehicles during the games.

She and other "rentable passengers" advertise on Kijiji offering to take up space in vehicles for $10 or more per head.

One ad, for a "package deal" of two men from Georgetown, touts their conversational skills and flexible scheduling, but notes they want an equal say in what music gets played during the ride.

Zuro told CBC News she got the idea while driving with her dad.

"We were talking about how crazy the traffic was and how crazy everyone's ideas were to get around it," she said.

"And he said 'You could charge people to ride in their cars.'"

But so far, no one has taken her up on the offer. Zuro hopes that will change when the games kick off this week.