Stuck for a lift to that festival in the midlands? A new social networking site may have just the answer.

EINSTEIN probably had at least three of these kinds of 'aha!' moments before he'd even had his morning coffee. "I was going out to Ardmore, at 6 or 6.30am," recounts filmmaker Liz Gill. "Going my way, the N11 was completely empty, but the opposite way, even at that time of day, was just a parking lot -- every single car had one person in it. It seemed crazy, because if they all took on one passenger, it would halve the traffic -- not to mention the knock on value of saving money, and emissions."

It wouldn't take a genius to realise if all of those people heading in the same direction, had some way of finding each other and organising themselves, then we'd be on our way, at best, towards an automotive revolution, and at the least, to getting to work on time without having to leave our houses at stupid o'clock.

Zeal

From this flash of insight, then, comes tripmi.ie, which promises to do for carpooling what daft.ie did for apartment hunting. Gill, with partner Breda Walsh, have spent the last year and a half -- without backers, and with only their zeal to see them through -- developing a website that allows anyone, up and down the country, to find themselves a lift, to organise groups for special events, and to track down that elusive neighbour who is actually heading in your direction.

The internet was, naturally, the environment of choice for such a scheme. It's already spawned such exchange sites the like of couchsurfing.com, in which you could potentially travel round the world without ever paying for accommodation; in the transportation line, the very handy zipcars.com in New York allows you hire a car, from one hour to one week, completely via the web.

Creation

Setting up a site is not as easy as it looks, though. Funnily enough, the computer doesn't manage to create one all by itself. It took the combined efforts of Gill, Walsh, web developers, and a team of designers to get tripmi.ie up and running. Unlike the average blog, tripmi processes so much information -- where you are, where you're going, what your likes and dislikes are -- that it would make Einstein's hair stand on end . . . even more than usual.

"You can create a profile that acts as a filter, so that you only carpool with women, for example," Gill explains. "One box I would tick is 'I Don't Want To Talk'. I don't want to get stuck in the car for four hours with someone who talks -- but some people do like to talk on a journey."

You also have the capability to set up a group, at a cost of one euro per person. Such a group might consist of friends and family who will need to travel to some isolated beauty spot up in Donegal for your wedding. By plugging everybody in to tripmi.ie, you save them the hassle of having to figure it out for themselves. It's one less headache for everyone involved, and its benefits go beyond the obvious (see panel above).

The site is secure, though its proprietors suggest that you have at least one phone conversation before you hook up for the lift -- you can tell a lot from the sound of a person's voice. But people are not as leery of the concept as they may have been, oh, 12 months ago.

"Last year when we were talking about this, people were all like, 'Oh what if you get an axe murderer, or whatever, and now there's not one person saying that!" says Walsh.

It's amazing what a little downturn in the economy will do for people's attitudes. The women do encourage tripmi users to use their heads, and make a thorough check of their potential car mates. In a country the size of ours, that's actually not difficult to do.

"Ireland is small enough, you can always find someone who knows someone!" laughs Gill.

Prior to that all-important phone call, though, you can parley your way into the shotgun position solely using the site.

Negotiate

"You can communicate on the site without revealing any of your information," Gill explains. "You don't have to send your email or your mobile number, you can do all the negotiating through the site."

The thing about genius ideas is the timing. It's impossible to imagine tripmi.ie achieving virtual reality at, er, a better time. But like the optimism that has fuelled its genesis, its creators are looking to such exchange sites as the way forward.

"We would see tripmi.ie as the beginning of other ways of sharing resources," says Walsh. "It may take some time to get off the ground -- for it to be a success there has to be a critical mass." That means you, dear reader. Take tripmi.ie for a spin, and see where it can take you . . .

Sharing the dream

In addition to saving the environment, the women behind tripmi.ie are also intent upon doing their bit for the less fortunate in society.

The use of the site, by individuals, is free, and the charge for creating groups is nominal -- but 50pc of those profits are going directly to charity. Having returned from Burma from a documentary shoot, Gill began tossing ideas around with Walsh, to see if there was any way in which they might do some good.

Dreams were dreamed, and actions taken, but once the idea of the website began to take shape, they realised that this was their way towards fulfilling those dreams. Walsh explains that their ambition is not to accumulate money, and sums up their entrepreneurial vision thus: "Tripmi.ie is a private enterprise for the public good."

- Sue Conley