By Saveun Man, Upper Hutt local and founder of Carpoolin *AD*

You know the drill, you work in town, get up before 7, be in town by 9, one person per car and the rest of it.
Gas isn’t getting cheaper and I’m spending a decent percentage of my income on keeping this car around that I don’t really care about.
Why isn’t carpooling a thing in 2026?

I’m Saveun from Elderslea, Upper Hutt and the founder of Carpoolin. An App designed to help people find others travelling to the same place. You know, carpooling.

Carpooling is this really great way people can split fuel and parking costs, reduce the number of cars making the same journey, and give us an opportunity to connect with others in our community.
It’s definitely not for everyone or every trip, but the main thing we want to do is get those Trips we commonly make out there so people around you can discover it.

One of the challenges with carpooling has always been finding the right people. You might know someone who works near you, but not their schedule. You might be heading to the same event as someone else in your neighbourhood without ever knowing it.

We’re taking the learnings of past attempts and incorporating them into Carpoolin.
Our features Groups and Events allow people to connect through communities they already belong to, whether that’s a workplace, a sports club, a local group or an event they’re attending.

Nobody wants to share an awkward trip with a complete stranger.
The aim is to present relevant information to you so you can make informed decisions about Trips that are happening around you.

Carpoolin is free to join and use, you pick a role (being a Driver or Passenger) and go from there.
It’s available nationwide, but I’d love to see more people in Upper Hutt exploring whether it could work for them.

If you’re a community leader, a business owner or someone who makes similar Trips from week to week I think it could help.
The hope is that Carpoolin can become more than just a way to share a car. It can be another way for communities to help one another, save a little money and give space for you to connect with your neighbour.

If you’d like to learn more check out; https://carpoolin.co cheers.

This has been a paid article promoting the Carpoolin App.

A “thank you” to Saveun Man for sending this article to The Upper Hutt Connection.

21/10/26