Blablacar is Changing Travel in Europe
Blablacar will change long distance travel much like Uber has changed the ridesharing industry, but its based on a concept familiar to every college student who ever needed a ride home for the Holidays; find someone who is traveling to the same place and pay them for gas. As they explain it, "BlaBlaCar is the world's leading long distance carpooling service, connecting drivers with empty seats to people travelling the same way." And the concept has taken Europe by storm; so much so that government regulators in places like Spain see it as a threat to their very efficient, but much more expensive, train and bus systems. Its available across most of Europe; Spain, France, Italy, Germany, England, and its opening branches in many more countries as I write this.
Blablacar is an App based system which allows you to find members traveling to the same city much like Uber and you can see pictures and reviews of the drivers. The drivers provide a schedule for their trip and pricing and if you like what you see, you schedule the trip through the App. And Google Maps is now listing potential Blablacar rides along with other modes of transportation. The App also allows you to select your driver based on music preferences and level of chattiness, among other things.
We will be using the service throughout Spain in June and will report back on our experience, but here is a pretty typical review, and some things to consider,when using the service. Here is the Blablacar site.
