New Online Carpooling Tool Launches in Corvallis

“Get There” gives the Corvallis community a way to find carpool partners and plan trips, reducing the need to drive alone

A new tool to help match carpool partners who want to share the ride is available to the Corvallis community. Get There, a new web, and app-based tool that matches drivers with riders and can help people plan trips by transit, walking, and bicycling, is replacing Drive Less Connect, the State of Oregon’s former carpool matching tool.

By typing in a starting point and destination, users are matched with either a passenger or a driver looking to share a ride. Using the tool helps travelers share the cost of transportation, and also reduces greenhouse gas emissions that harm the environment by eliminating the need to drive alone.

“Our goal is to help people have more choices for the way they travel,” said ODOT Highway Division Administrator Kris Strickler. “With more options, we usually see fewer vehicles on the road – and that means less congestion and frustration for everyone.”

The City of Corvallis will be using Get There as its main platform to track carpool, walking, teleworking, biking and taking transit, rewarding users throughout the year for those who participate. Those already signed up on the Drive Less Connect system have been automatically transferred into Get There and only need to update their passwords to continue logging trips.

Get There also provides users with information about vanpools for popular commutes, such as between Corvallis and Portland, Salem, and Eugene and Corvallis.

“We are thrilled to provide another form of connectivity to the community to enhance how people get in, out and around Corvallis. The easier it becomes to select different ways to get around, the more likely people will choose those options,” said Josh Capps, Active Transportation Program Specialist with the City of Corvallis.

In October, Get There will host the annual Get There Challenge, formerly the Oregon Drive Less Challenge. This year’s challenge will feature a range of prizes for people who live or work in Oregon to log trips made without driving alone. Sponsors include Providence Health & Services and Bike Friday. More details will be announced in summer 2019.

The City of Corvallis operates a popular public transit system and supports other alternative forms of transportation, including bicycle and pedestrian options. Support for these programs builds on the City’s Climate Action Plan, adopted in 2016.