Web Smarts
What: Need a ride? This electronic ride board allows college students to connect with one another on long-distance drives to destinations across the United States.
Best parts: Click anywhere on the US map to indicate to which state you will be driving or need a ride. Then you can either read messages from others or post your own. If you provide your e-mail address, the site will automatically inform you when someone posts what you're looking for.
David Sugar, a senior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., helped design the new site. He collaborated with a Hobart administrator after having been frustrated at times when he was trying to catch a ride home. Mr. Sugar also knew there must be a better solution than making his parents drive five hours from Baltimore just to turn around and go back home. The ride board is now pending formal copyright.
What you should know: The ride board, launched just a few months ago, is still getting off the ground: Almost all of the trip requests and offers are confined to the Northeast region. The site also doesn't mention precautions students should take before riding with strangers.
