Facebook groups for rideshare Фейсбук групи за споделено пътуване

There are several Facebook groups for ridesharing in Bulgaria – the total amount of members is about 300,000, and this number is constantly rising (the three largest groups are increasing their membership by about 100+ members per week). The three largest groups are the following: “Rideshare Burgas – Sofia and back!” (75,104 members), “Rideshare Plovdiv-Sofia” (62,900 members) and “Rideshare” (47,000 members). Plovdiv and Burgas are the second and the fourth largest cities in Bulgaria, respectively. The other rideshare groups are dedicated to trips to Varna (the third largest city) and other smaller but popular towns in Bulgaria. Most of these groups were founded in the period 2011-2013 and offer a platform for car owners who are travelling to a particular destination by themselves to share their trip with other people travelling to the same city but who don’t have or don’t want to use their own transportation. Thus, both parties benefit from: 1) sharing trip-related expenses; 2) having company during the trip/meeting interesting people; 3) reducing the number of vehicles on the road, and 4) reducing the carbon footprint of the trips.