For Earth Day last year, DCist looked at how our region could green up its transportation system, and help area residents to reduce how much they drive. This year, we take a look at a new service that could change the way you do — or don’t — drive.

Dealing with global warming is one of the biggest challenges our generation faces, and transportation is a major source of the greenhouse gases that are behind the problem. While many D.C. residents are lucky enough to live where walking, biking, and transit can take them to a majority of places they need to go, sometimes, you just need a car. Internet-based car-sharing services like Zipcar and Flexcar are one great option. Since D.C. residents have so heartily endorsed car-sharing with their wallets, this year for Earth Day, we are highlighting another fascinating internet-based transportation experiment.

According to the 2000 census, nearly three-quarters of car trips in the U.S. are taken alone. To some extent, people have begun to embrace transit, cycling, and walking as alternative travel options. As a result, we are seeing more bike lanes in our communities, an emphasis on “walkability” in city planning, and a nationwide development of new transit options. As important as continued development of these alternatives is, some trips just must be made by car. The environmental (and financial) impact of these trips can be minimized, though, by including more than one passenger. Many car tips often begin and end at nearby locations, and if people were to discuss where they were going and when they were coming back, they could combine their trips to save a little cash and a lot of pollution — in other words, carpooling.

Despite the best efforts of government transportation agencies, however, statistics show that carpooling has remained the bastard child of transportation options. It has never become popular enough to have much of an impact on pollution levels or traffic congestion, and Americans are spending more money than ever on transportation costs. You can point to several reasons for low carpooling Carpools can be difficult to set up or inconvenient, schedules are not terribly flexible, and let’s face it, driving around with strangers can be plain awkward.

A new service called GoLoco aims to change all that. Conceived by none other than the founder of Zipcar, Robin Chase, according to its website, GoLoco is “a service that lets friends, neighbors, and co-workers arrange rides together.” That’s actually quite an understatement.

Photo by tyger_lyllie