OttawaRideMatch.com

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Who can use OttawaRideMatch.com? The City of Ottawa ridematching system was developed in collaboration with Transport Canada to include Ottawa employees and residents working in Ottawa or Gatineau. All residents and employees within the National Capital Region (NCR) are encouraged to try the new system.


Is OttawaRideMatch.com available to people living or working in Gatineau? Yes, Transport Canada collaborated with the City of Ottawa on this project specifically so as to include NCR employers and residents.


What are the benefits of carpooling? Carpooling lets you share the cost of driving; it provides you with company for your commute and saves you money. It is often the perfect solution for commuters located far from their worksite or without access to transit service. In some families carpooling to work avoids the need for a second car.

 


Is there a charge to use OttawaRideMatch.com? There is no charge to use OttawaRideMatch.com

 


Why is OttawaRideMatch.com one of the most advanced in the world? OttawaRideMatch.com uses state-of-the-art geocoding technology, searches for matches along a route from your origin to your destination, and offers extensive user-controlled search defining abilities. It defaults to searches within employer groups and maximizes accessibility and usability for users.


How do I register with OttawaRideMatch.com? Registering with OttawaRideMatch.com is fast, easy and simple. Follow these easy steps:

First time users:

  • Click on ‘Register as a new user’
  • Enter your work email address and select a personal password

NOTE: By entering your work email address you will enable the system to search for compatible carpoolers within your employer group.

  • Enter your personal profile information such as gender, driver or passenger preference, etc.
  • Enter your address information including
    • Home address
    • Carpooling origin address (if different from your home address)
    • Destination (work) address
  • The system will confirm your origin and destination on a map.
  • If the system doesn’t recognize the address, you will be able to select your location on a clickable map. Drag your cursor across the screen to move the map or zoom in/out with the “+” or “-“ buttons.
  • Define your travel schedule.
  • Select ‘Search for matches”
  • The system will return a list of potential carpool partners, based on your defined search criteria. You may modify or change any of this data to better narrow down your search.
  • To contact a person from your matchlist, select “email this person”. The email is sent from you to the contact directly from OttawaRideMatch.com. The contact is then able to reply directly to you.

Registered Users:

  • Login with your Userid and Password
  • Start searching
  • Contact people from your matchlist


Why do you recommend that I use my work email address? All email addresses require confirmation before the system enables you to search for carpoolers. Often people searching for carpool partners are most comfortable searching within their own employer group. Email verification will be used to ensure that people who want to search within their own employer group are doing so with validated registrants.

 


Why can’t I search for carpool partners immediately upon registering? Before registrants are permitted to search for carpool partners, the system will send an email to validate the email addresses entered. When you receive the email you need to click on the activation link to enable the search feature.


How does OttawaRideMatch.com find carpool matches? OttawaRideMatch.com is one of the most advanced ridematching systems in existence today. Your origin and destination are geocoded to a corresponding latitude and longitude coordinate. A ‘route’ from your origin to work is evaluated. The system will match within a user-defined distance from your origin, destination and along your route.

 

What if I don’t want other people to ‘find’ me in searches because I’ve found a carpool partner or I’m not able to carpool right now? Simply click on the “Personal Profile” button, and then uncheck the button that says ‘I am actively looking for a carpool partner”

 


Is my information private? Yes. Rest assured that all of your data is secured to a very high level using the same technologies that on-line banking and major on-line merchants utilize. No information provided during registration will be provided to any external agency at any time. For monitoring purposes aggregate data only will be used to evaluate and assess the ridematching system.


What about car insurance? Personal or corporate vehicle insurance is dependent upon your policy. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you check with your insurance provider prior to initiating any carpool. OttawaRideMatch.com assumes no responsibility for insurance issues.

 


What if I only want to match with people from my workplace? If you register using your work email address and leave the button checked that says “search only within my employer group” the default settings of the system will search only within your own employer group. If you uncheck this box, you will be matched with everyone in the system that is looking for a carpool partner outside of their own specific employer.

 

Note: Federal Government Employees. Your employer group is the Federal Government. To select a match that meets your site specifically, select “ match my worksite exactly’ under the destination radius search criteria.

 


I registered using my email home address, but want to match within my employer group. Simply click on the “Change UserID and Password” button and modify your UserID. You will immediately receive an email which will ask you to click on a provided link to confirm your modified email address is functional. You will also receive another email which will contain your UserID and Password. Please save this email for future reference.

 


I forgot my UserID. What can I do? Remember that your UserID is also your email address.

 


I forgot my Password. What can I do? On the login page simply click on the link “I forgot my password”. Enter your email address and the password which corresponds to that email address will be immediately mailed out.

 


I work at two different jobs in different locations. What can I do? If you have two email addresses, then you can create two different accounts with different address profiles.

 


What if I don’t find a match? First, make sure you’ve tried adjusting your search settings. The default setting searches within 2 kilometers from where you live or work or 2 kilometers along your route. You can expand or reduce these search distances as necessary. If you still don’t find a match, try searching again in a week or two. It takes a while to build up registrants in the database so don’t give up if you’re not immediately successful.

 


Will encouraging carpooling reduce transit use? OttawaRideMatch.com is all about improving the travel options for commuters. Typically carpoolers are those whose origin, destination or working hours are not conducive to using transit. There have been no known studies that demonstrate a correlation between a ridematching system and reduced transit use. In fact, when more options are available to commuters some may find that by carpooling on some days they are more likely to use transit on the days they don’t carpool. A ridematching system provides increased opportunities for carpooling only.

 


How do I get help if I’m having technical problems? If you’re experiencing any problems click on the help link at the bottom of the page to email technical support.

 


Who do I contact if I have comments or general questions? Click on the comments link at the bottom of the page to email TravelWise.


What is RideShark Corporation? RideShark Corporation is the developer of the OttawaRideMatch.com application and hosts the application database. RideShark Corporation is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.