Interest in carshare apps surges after BART strike
Source: AP-Excite
By MARTHA MENDOZA
Just days before hundreds of Bay Area Rapid Transit workers went on strike, the online ridesharing network Avego bought a new Web address: bartstrike.com.
By Monday morning, when 400,000 displaced commuters were struggling to get to work, Avego was going beyond offering an easy way to share a ride with a stranger. The company was giving a few lucky commuters who downloaded its smartphone app a free helicopter ride to bypass the traffic.
Avego is one of many startup rideshare companies marketing their services with gusto after this week's strike by the workers who transport more than 40 percent of commuters coming from the East Bay to San Francisco.
Sign-ups jumped from hundreds before the strike to thousands over the weekend, said Paul Steinberg, Avego's director of operations for the Americas. "We're getting creamed," he said.
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Commuters wait in traffic on Interstate 80 on approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Monday, July 1, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. Negotiations between the two largest unions representing more than 2,300 Bay Area Rapid Transit workers and BART management broke off late Sunday despite the request of California Gov. Jerry Brown in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
