[mjmahone17]

In the US, especially among people of politically-influential age, hitchhiking has a fairly negative connotation. In most US states, hitchhiking is at least restricted, and sometimes entirely illegal. There was a long period in the 80's where hitchhikers were portrayed as criminal, untrustworthy and those who would pick them up were likely to want to hurt them.

Carpooling, on the other hand, is highly encouraged, even to the point where local governments create special infrastructure to encourage people to do it. Are hitchhiking and carpooling two sides of the same coin? Yeah, probably. Should we be more encouraging of hitchhikers? Again, I think so. But if you have a positive message "Look at all the cars we're taking off the road! We're helping people meet others in similar situations, who all want to commute together!" it sets you up for a very different interaction with the public and with governments than "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could get people to hitchhike more?"