Carpooling via computer with Divide the Ride: When Mom's Taxi needs to save gas & time

As the price of gas climbs higher, more and more parents are looking for ways to cut back on trips while still making sure their kids get to Little League, dance practice, karate class and so forth. One answer is carpooling -- but setting one up can be a pain.

A St. Petersburg company, Horizon Marketing Group, has come up with an on-line tool for creating family carpools. It's called Divide the Ride.

As they explain in their video, Divide the Ride is free and fairly easy to use. Parents log in, then enter the contact information for the other families who will be participating. Once that's done, Divide The Ride will create a carpool schedule for them.

"The system spreads out and balances the pick-ups and drop-offs based on availability," said Bob Watson of Horizon Marketing.

Then the system automatically sends email and text reminders to everyone in the carpool about who's picking up which kid and when. There's also a Google Maps feature to to help families find other parents who might be close by and can help with the schedule.

Although the system has gotten a lot of press, so far it hasn't attracted more than a few thousand users. Watson said his colleagues have been joking about how high gas prices will have to go for more parents to start splitting up the Mom's Taxi duties. Incidentally, Horizon is now working on a version that would simplify school car line. They expect to have it ready by the start of school this fall.

--Craig Pittman