General Questions

CarBuddy is a service that makes it easy to share a ride by eliminating all the hassles and headaches associated with carpooling. CarBuddy will find a perfect match based on your location, path of travel and your likes and dislikes. We take care of collecting and paying money between drivers and passengers. You can give us feedback by rating your trip experience, and you have the flexibility to change or cancel your service at any time.

Also, as a CarBuddy member, you have the peace of mind of our Emergency Taxi Service. If something comes up unexpectedly – like being detained after work, a last-minute schedule change or some other emergency – all you have to do is contact us and we’ll send a taxi to your location for free, up to four times per year. After that, we provide this service at a discounted price.

You go through our free, joining process and establish your trip information, schedule and preferences. You tell us if you want to be a driver, a passenger or both. When we find your match, you’ll receive all the details you’ll need to arrange the trip. Our system will automatically calculate a fair trip cost based on the vehicle’s year make and model. We’ll validate the driver’s license and auto insurance. Once you and your CarBuddy agree on the trip details, you simply show up and enjoy the ride. Once you take the trip, you’ll be able to rate your experience.

People use CarBuddy for a variety of reasons, but here are three most popular ones:

(1) You can save money every day by sharing the cost of commuting with someone. (2) You can help the environment by reducing carbon emissions by having fewer cars on the road. (3) You help reduce traffic congestion, speeding up the time everyone can get to work. It’s a win-win-win situation for everyone.

We will try to match you with someone as close to your age as possible.

By default, our system will match gender to gender. However, you can elect in your preferences to change that at any time.

Matches can take anywhere from one day to a couple of weeks. It all depends where you live and how many people have signed up in your area.

The more people join, the greater the possibility of us finding a match. Remember, joining CarBuddy is FREE and there is nothing to lose. So spread the word about CarBuddy.com and tell a friend!

Absolutely. In fact, if you already carpool, you know the benefits of ride-sharing. As a CarBuddy member, you’ll eliminate the stress and hassles associated with carpooling. See for yourself by looking at the CarBuddy vs. Carpooling Comparison Chart.

CarBuddy is currently operating in the Metro Detroit area, comprising the following ten counties (or cities): Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Royal Oak, Genesee, Livingston, St. Clair, Lapeer, Washtenaw and Monroe. If you live outside these areas, you can join now and we will notify you when the service will be available in your area.

Unfortunately, the answer is no. CarBuddy is only designed for commuting to and from work. We wanted to design a system that would make the most impact on traffic congestion and commuting as a whole. Traffic congestion occurs most during rush hour, when the majority of people commute to and from work.

We are sorry to say that the answer is no. We believe that CarBuddy works best when all members own a car – even if they just want to be a passenger.

Although the CarBuddy system works best with a fixed schedule, it’s been designed to be very flexible. You can choose and change your schedule on a weekly basis.

You can do it in two ways. (1) You have the option of entering that person in your ride-share buddy circle during the Join Now process. (2) Or you can do it after you register by logging into your account and clicking on Add a Buddy.