{"id":20270,"date":"2019-11-24T11:47:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T18:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61712"},"modified":"2019-11-24T11:47:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T18:47:13","slug":"new-frisco-based-ride-sharing-app-allows-for-carpooling-to-the-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/new-frisco-based-ride-sharing-app-allows-for-carpooling-to-the-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"New Frisco-based ride-sharing app allows for carpooling to the mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/Tires-SDN-102319-1-1024x683-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/Tires-SDN-102319-1-1024x683-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/Tires-SDN-102319-1-1024x683-1-1024x683-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/Tires-SDN-102319-1-1024x683-1-1024x683-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>Two SUVs drive in opposite directions on I-70 outside Silverthorne.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan, Summit Daily News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>FRISCO \u2014 Erwin Germain moved to Colorado from the French and Swiss Alps and wondered why residents weren\u2019t using ride-shares. While Uber and Lyft are available, they largely operate as taxi services. Germain envisioned a true carpooling system for getting to and around the mountains. If two or more strangers could ride together from Denver to the ski resorts, it would cut down on pollution, energy consumption and the dreaded Interstate 70 traffic.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As a driver for Summit Express, Germain knew there was a market for this type of business. After spending four years coming up with a plan for the app with his business partner, Colorado native Justin Kurtz, Germain plans to launch TreadShare on Saturday, Dec. 7.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea is to use a vehicle that\u2019s already on the road,\u201d Germain said. \u201cSay I want to go from Denver to Keystone, and I have two empty seats. I post my trip on the app. Then, people interested to find a ride can navigate on the app and can book directly on the app.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While an Uber ride from Denver to Keystone Resort costs about $100 during non-surge times, Germain said the fee for riders using TreadShare is about $15 because it is meant to simply cover the cost of gas and mileage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fare that the passenger paid will go to the driver minus the service fee,\u201d Germain said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/11\/Ride-1-screen-576x1024.png\" alt class=\"wp-image-374729\"><figcaption><strong><strong>Preview of the TreadShare app.<\/strong><br \/><em>Photo courtesy of TreadShare.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Germain explained that when a rider books a one-way trip to the mountains, they also can see when the driver plans to return and can book again with the same person. If plans don\u2019t line up, the rider can book with someone else.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s saving money for the rider, and it\u2019s helping to cover the cost of owning the vehicle of the driver,\u201d Germain said.&nbsp;\u201cThen, there\u2019s a social aspect of making friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TreadShare is a business registered in Frisco, so while Germain got the idea from his experiences in Europe, he has worked with Kurtz to adjust the business model to Colorado residents. Adaptations the team has made include educating the driver on the new I-70 traction laws, having the option for ski gear, connecting social media profiles to driver and passenger app profiles, and the option to leave reviews. Germain said the reviews are meant to reassure people that they are riding with someone who is safe and reliable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To help get his business off the ground, Germain plans to work with ski resorts, universities and other areas that would benefit most from the service. He also said that while he thinks Colorado is the perfect place to start, he plans to expand to other states if they are able to reach a certain number of rides.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/new-frisco-based-ride-sharing-app-allows-for-carpooling-to-the-mountains\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two SUVs drive in opposite directions on I-70 outside Silverthorne.Liz Copan, Summit Daily News FRISCO \u2014 Erwin Germain moved to Colorado from the French and Swiss Alps and wondered why residents weren\u2019t using ride-shares. While Uber and Lyft are available, they largely operate as taxi services. Germain envisioned a true carpooling system for getting to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 03:22:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}