My Campus Ride: The new student carshare app

The grim reality of public transport is something that many Warwick students have to face on a daily basis. From buses that arrive late to the ones that pass by without stopping, we all learn to deal with the fact that public transport is not 100 percent reliable.

Alternatives to the bus system come with their own set of problems. Cycling is a cheap and environmentally friendly alternative but it is certainly more effort than sitting on a bus and on rainy days you might end up looking like you swam to uni! If you have a car at home, bringing it to university may be a convenient yet costly alternative. Carpooling is a good way to share the costs of maintaining a car but it can be tough finding someone with a similar enough schedule to make it worthwhile.

My Campus Ride is a new mobile app that attempts to help students with that. The app requires students to create a profile where they can post details about their future journeys. When found to be compatible with other people, lifts can be offered, as well as requests to be someone’s passenger. Safety-wise, registered users can see each other’s history and ratings and the app is inaccessible to non-registered users, so you and My Campus Ride will always know who you are car sharing with.

The Boar talked with Bilal Ahmad, managing director of My Campus ride, to learn more about it:

I understand that My Campus Ride is a new app providing a way for students to organise car-pools or lift-shares with fellow students, which sounds brilliant! What inspired you to create this app?

Having attended several universities, my business partner and I had identified a need for more student-centred apps. Ridesharing was one of the major aspects that we felt could have been better addressed. We saw that these services were provided elsewhere, and decided that students in the UK also cared about saving money and the environment! The only services that were available were based on websites, and we figured it was time to bring newer technology that students actually wanted to use.

Could you tell us a bit more about the features of the app and what it will involve?

The app has 3 major functions: helping students rideshare, providing local exclusive discounts, and displaying student events. These functions allow users to find something to do, find a way to get there, and get discounts when you’re there! We already have a wide variety of businesses that are offering discounts such as restaurants, salons, and clothes shops, and more are constantly coming on board.

What sets My Campus Ride apart from all the other lift-sharing websites?

MCR is unique in that it provides a lot of cool functions on the go. Current liftsharing websites are really designed for people with 9-5 schedules that can plan their trips weeks in advance. Since My Campus Ride is an app, it allows ad-hoc communication through GPS which accommodates students’ ever-changing schedules and lives. It also provides a convenient location to find out about any student-related activities going on whether it’s the uni football match, a debate between political societies, or freshers week events.

How much will the app cost?

The app is free for students!

Finally, and most importantly, when and where can we get this app for ourselves?

The app is currently available on Android and the iPhone version will be released shortly.