More Photos (1):

Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic

Robert Gilliland didn't think much about carpooling until gas prices got out of control. Now, he's happy to trade his motoring freedom for $120 in weekly savings.

Gilliland found one rider through the classifieds Web site Craigslist and another using the car-pool-matching service eRideShare.com. Thousands of commuters like him have turned to the Internet to arrange shared rides as gas prices remain high.

Each day, Gilliland picks up Brian McKenzie near his home in Lakeland, Fla., and Mike Rogers in Seffner on his way to work. He drops off McKenzie in Tampa and Rogers in Clearwater, where Gilliland works as a construction designer. He reverses that for the commute home.

The extra stops add up to an hour in round-trip commuting, meaning he could be spending three hours a day in his Ford Taurus, but the alternative is to shell out $150 a week from his own pocket. With carpooling, his two passengers contribute $60 apiece; he pays only half of that to factor in wear and tear on his car.

"We've become friends," Gilliland said. "It's been a good experience for me socially as well as economically."

Gas prices have climbed even higher in the year-plus since Gilliland started carpooling. The number of daily visitors to eRideShare has jumped about threefold since February, when gas started to climb from the $3-a-gallon range. A rival site, Carpoolworld.com, had about 4,400 new U.S. registrations in both June and July, compared with 800 in February.

Although some people turned to these sites long ago to help reduce pollution or take advantage of faster, high-occupancy vehicle lanes that require at least two occupants, the pocketbook has been the largest influencer of all.

"People are well aware of global warming . . . but it takes the price of gasoline to get them to take that step," said Steven Schoeffler, founder of eRideShare in Edwardsville, Ill. "It's something they wanted to do anyway but maybe needed a little extra impetus."

The various carpooling sites vary in how they connect commuters.

Craigslist offers straightforward classified listings, alongside the ads for new roommates and used furniture, for instance, while Zimride's Carpool works as a Facebook application, tapping the personal profiles users keep at the popular online hangout. Zimride also lets users rate others akin to eBay Inc.'s feedback system.

These services are generally free for drivers and passengers, who can work out whether they take turns driving or designate a single driver and chip in for fuel.

Carpooling isn't for everyone, though.

Hoping to save about $30 a week, Michelle Sandoval has looked on Carpoolworld for rides near Los Angeles. But her hours in film production fluctuate so much that any arrangement would leave her "at the mercy of someone else's transportation schedule," she said.

Safety also has been a factor. Remember those warnings never to get into cars with strangers?

Those fears seem to have subsided as gas prices have risen.

The Pima Association of Governments offers a program, called RideShare, to connect Tucson-area residents to possible car-pool partners. Call 884-7433 or visit www.pagnet.org for more information.