PickupPal Online Incorporated was a free online
ridesharing service, that allowed its members to coordinate
carpooling and ridesharing activities around the world.
History
PickupPal was founded in 2007 by John Stewart and Eric Dewhirst in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The idea was to create an online community that would leverage
social networking tools in an effort to assist drivers and passengers to find each other online. The website was launched on January 15, 2008. PickupPal's competitors included
Zimride
Zimride by Enterprise Holdings was an American carpool program that matched inter-city drivers and passengers through social networking services. It was offered to universities and businesses as a matchmaking service. and
GoLoco.org.
Legal challenges
In July 2008
Trentway-Wagar, a regional bus company requested that the Ontario Highway Transportation Board (OHTB) order PickupPal to cease providing service within Ontario. PickupPal launched an online petition to lobby the Ontario Provincial Government to have the definition of a carpool vehicle amended to all carpool vehicles to cross municipal boundaries and that the restriction that all travel be limited to home and work exclusively. On October 15. 2008 PickupPal and
Trentway-Wagar defended their positions before the OHTB and subsequently on November 6, 2008 the OHTB found in favor of
Trentway-Wagar. On October 28, 2008 the Minister of Transportation tabled an amendment to the definition of a carpool vehicle that would allow operations like PickupPal to continue to operate in the province.
In 2009, the Ontario government voted in favour of Bill 118 which amended the Public Vehicle Act to not include carpool vehicles.
See also
*
Trentway-Wagar
References
External links
PickupPal WebsiteToronto Star background article Save PickupPal in Ontario WebsiteNational Post coverage of OHTB hearingTechcrunch coverage of OHTB ruling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickuppal
Transport in the Greater Toronto Area
Transport in Ottawa