Commuting

First off, we'de like to congratulate John Walker who won the Stio Ole Glory Jacket giveaway for posting a commute from Victor, Idaho to Jackson, Wyoming

In Jackson, Wyoming, we are familiar with the commuter lifestyle. Many individuals that make up the community in Jackson do not actually live here mostly due to the cost of real estate. A popular retreat that offers a more affordable option is just over Teton Pass in Victor and Driggs Idaho. Chances are that your community has been designed in a similar fashion.

We like to think that most of us are familier with the problems that we, as a society, face in wake of rising gas prices that coincide with urban sprawl and the design of a individuated transportation infrastructure; but in most cases much of society is unaware. The obvious solution to such a problem is to ask our government to invest in a more community oriented public transportation system. But as of now, private sector profits and special interest have had a much larger influence on the design of the current transportation infrastructure. You might ask, how will this ever change if private sector profits and special interests continue to have such an influence? The answer lies in de commissioning the current transportation system such that it has to evolve in a more sustainable fashion.

How do we do we break down a design that is of no benefit to society to ultimately attain a more sustainable method of travel? Non participation is certainly one of the quickest ways to decentralize power in the process of creating a more desirable and sustainable design. To take the environment and it's people into consideration, we have to first reduce our reliance on a system that does not take that consideration into effect. At backcountryride.com, we don't see our efforts as the ultimate solution to solving our dependency on fossil fuels, but rather a stepping stone to help break the structure up such that more regenerative design models are allowed more of a chance.

At backcountryride.com our commuter board was design to connect people traveling in similar directions, which we believe, is a way whereby we can most drastically cut down on our dependence on vehicle travel. Our commuter board was initially designed in accordance to the popular commute over Teton Pass. Now we realize that this is not just a local initiative, but a national and even international campaign to help mitigate our reliance on fossile fuels. If you live in a community that requires commuting, do your part and connect with people traveling in similar directions. We are doing our best at backcountryride.com to help facilitate that connection.

The History of Car Pooling

Check out this interesting article from shareable.net for a synopsis on the history of carpooling.

The History of Carpooling, from Jitneys to Ridesharing 

Facebook Fan Appreciation Raffle

Congratulations to Kevin Pusey for winning a $75 gift card to Mountain Khakis as a part of our Facebook fan appreciation raffle give away! Stay tuned for more give aways.

Revolutionary Ride Sharing

The understanding of what it means to share is taking on an entirely new design in the 21st century. With the emergence of social media and an increasingly interconnected world with technocratic implications coupled with a changing economic landscape, people are warming up to the idea of reducing consumption through sharing resources. At the forefront of this movement, ride share networks have become a hub whereby the philosophy of sharing is easily attainable.

BackcountryRide.com is such a network and unique in its capacity to adapt to the various incidences in which a user might consider sharing a ride. For example, the network is able to handle local ride matches down to the minute, long distance travel ride matches and design a space for individuals to create daily commute ride shares.  The fact that all aspects can be integrated together in a way whereby a daily commuter can give an individual who is just looking for a ride across town on that specific day, takes into account all the different facets of personal vehicle travel and couples them together to create the most optimal way to find a match for a ride offer or request.

In order to best present this code base to potential ride sharers and define ourselves as a truly unique rideshare service, we knew it would be important to tap into Facebook’s network and Google’s Map interface. Users can select any location in the world from Google Maps while we have a greater potential of attracting a wider user base through certain Facebook integration tools.  Some of the Facebook integration tools allow users to post their ride offer or request to their personal profile page, to the BackcountryRide.com Facebook page, all in addition to posting their ride to the BackcountryRide.com ride board.  Of course users have the option of signing up with BackcountryRide.com with their Facebook profile, thus easing the registration process.

A final aspect that no other ride share network offers today is an integrated text message feature that notifies user if the BackcountryRide.com network has found a ride match.

From it's inception and through the course of it's evolution, BackcountryRide.com continually strives to create a service based on principals that pertain to pooling resources and positive relationships.