[lcc]

I absolutely loved using BlaBlaCar when I was backpacking in France. It was recommended to me by several other travellers who all raved about it. It is a fraction of the price of the train, and far more convenient (in terms of pick-up/drop off locations and timing) than the bus. Plus I met some pretty cool people along the way.

Unfortunately I'm not optimistic about a similar service doing well in North America. The main advantage BlaBlaCar has in Europe is geography. Cities in North America are more scattered. Also, French culture is much more open to hitchhiking, which BlaBlaCar feels like a natural extension to. And European road tolls are far more expensive than in North America, giving drivers a much larger incentive to take some ridesharers with them. For example, on a long weekend roadtrip along the Cote d'Azur my French friend and I racked up close to 200 Euros in tolls, but happily made almost half of that back by picking up BlaBlaCar passengers at various convenient points along the way.