What do college students use instead of Zimride?

In 2026 the main options are cost-sharing carpool apps like Seat Sherpa (verified drivers, secure payment, seat prices that just split the trip's cost), campus Facebook/GroupMe rideshare groups, and Craigslist rideshare boards. The app route adds ID verification and payment protection the informal boards don't have.

Home › Routes › Guide

Zimride is gone — how college students share rides in 2026

Q: Is Zimride still around?

No. Zimride — the campus rideshare platform that Lyft grew out of, later run by Enterprise — quietly wound down and is no longer available at colleges. Students searching for it today need an alternative.

Q: How much does a rideshare home for break cost?

On cost-sharing carpools, a seat is a share of the driver's real trip cost: for example roughly $40–$55 for LA to the Bay Area, $22–$36 for San Luis Obispo to LA, or $14–$26 for Santa Barbara to LA — usually far less than a flight and comparable to gas money.

Updated July 2026

Zimride was the original campus rideshare board — it's literally where Lyft came from. But the platform quietly wound down years ago, and the campus ride boards that replaced it are a patchwork of GroupMe chats and Facebook groups. If you're trying to get home for break without a car (or fill your car to cover gas), here's what actually works now.

What Zimride got right

Zimride understood two things: students take the same long trips on the same dates (breaks, long weekends, big games), and a car with four students splitting gas beats everyone driving — or paying for flights — alone. That demand didn't go anywhere. Only the platform did.

The alternatives, honestly compared

Option	Safety / payment	The catch
Seat Sherpa	ID + driver's-license-verified drivers, payment held until a pickup code confirms the trip, two-way ratings, 18+ only	California & Nevada routes for now
Campus Facebook / GroupMe boards	None — you're Venmo-ing a stranger and hoping	Flaky no-shows, no recourse, boards die each graduation
Craigslist rideshare	None	Same, with less of a community filter
FlixBus / Amtrak	Commercial carriers	Fixed schedules, terminal-to-terminal, often slower door-to-door

🎓 Built for exactly these trips

Seat Sherpa is a cost-sharing carpool marketplace: drivers already making the drive list their empty seats, and the price can only be a fair split of the trip's real cost — think gas money, not a fare. Popular student routes are already live:

UCLA/USC → Bay Area Cal Poly SLO → LA UCSB → LA Berkeley → Sacramento/Davis LA → UCSD

Browse live rides

Driving home anyway? Fill your seats.

The other half of Zimride was drivers. If you're a student with a car making the run home, three passengers at cost-split prices can cover your whole tank and then some — post your ride and you keep 95% of every seat.

FAQ

Is Zimride still around?

No — it wound down years ago and isn't available at colleges anymore.

What do students use instead of Zimride?

Cost-sharing carpool apps like Seat Sherpa (verified + payment-protected), campus Facebook/GroupMe boards, and Craigslist — the informal boards work but offer no verification or recourse.

How much does a rideshare home for break cost?

A fair share of the driver's costs: roughly $40–$55 LA↔Bay Area, $22–$36 SLO↔LA, $14–$26 Santa Barbara↔LA.

Going home for break?

Grab a seat with a verified driver already making the drive.

Get the Seat Sherpa app

More guides

Is BlaBlaCar in the USA?Is Poparide in the USA?Is Kangaride in the USA?Hitch in California?Waze Carpool alternatives Bay Area casual carpool Cheapest way SF → LA