New AAS Initiative Helps Students Carpool

This Thanksgiving break, Association of Amherst Students (AAS) Senator Prakhar Agrawal ’27 decided students needed a more efficient way to get off campus. The solution was a new rideshare spreadsheet.

Many students find it difficult to get to the various airports surrounding Amherst, whether it be a lack of transportation options or the price of those available. The starting price of an Uber from Amherst to Hartford is around $70, and students have expressed that Ubers can be unreliable.

The transportation committee also sets up shuttles to help students get off campus for breaks, but they always reached capacity, Agrawal said.

To help, the AAS set up a rideshare initiative where students can split the cost of an Uber or fuel to get off campus. On Nov. 18, Agrawal sent out an email outlining the initiative. The spreadsheet includes options to and from Bradley, Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Students are asked to enter their name, email, travel dates and times, whether they are a passenger or driver, whether they have a car, and any additional information.

For previous breaks, Agrawal said he looked to rideshare GroupMe chats, but the results were not dependable.

“There are scammers who are putting messages [in the chat], then there are people who are putting [in] different messages over a period of time. And everything is cluttered, and you have to go through the history of the messages to find a person, and then you have to DM them,” Agrawal said.

Sometimes, he said, students do not even bother messaging the GroupMe because they do not think they will get a response.

As a member of the AAS Transportation Committee, Agrawal decided to do something about this inefficiency. Agrawal’s primary concern when setting up the new rideshare system was organization.

“This is much, much more efficient than either Facebook or GroupMe. And I do hope that people continue to put [in] their entries and continue to find other people.” He wants students to use this outside of school breaks.

So far, there have been 66 entries on the spreadsheet, and many seem enthusiastic about the new platform. Fellow AAS Senator Hannah Kim ’25 said the system “seems great, and I’ve already got to connect with someone for a ride in December.”

Some students have already had success with the system over Thanksgiving. “With AAS providing shuttles and this sheet, it has made rides so much easier to acquire. By using this sheet, I was able to find two other students to split the price of my ride leaving Amherst [with],” Josie Carillo ’26 said. “I think this will really help FLI students who cannot [afford] the AAS shuttles, as it can significantly cut the costs of rides.”  

Agrawal said he thought many more students would use the sheet for winter break.

“I hope that people use it as much as they can during winter break. I hope that people who even have unsure travel plans use it. I really would like them to put their travel plans and just see how it plays out.”