Carpool between SF, LA, San Diego, and Las Vegas with real drivers already heading your way — split the gas instead of paying a markup. Faster than the bus, cheaper than the train, no airport. Available on iOS and Google Play stores.

In 2018 I spent a year in Europe, and the thing that surprised me wasn't the trains. It was the fourth option. Alongside rail, Ryanair and intercity buses, there was peer-to-peer carpooling — about €15 to ride with a stranger heading your way. I took one from Zadar to Zagreb with a driver I'd never met. Nobody there finds that strange. Then I came home to California and tried to get from San Francisco to Tahoe during ski season. The ski bus ran Fridays only. No viable train. Flights to Reno overshot where I was going. So I drove. Alone. Six hours, a full tank, three empty seats — wondering how many other cars on that road were exactly like mine. Craigslist rideshare used to solve this. It died years ago, and nothing replaced it. So I built Seat Sherpa. Drivers post a trip they're already making. Riders book a seat. Everyone splits the gas, and payment runs through the app — no "so… Venmo?" at a rest stop outside Kettleman City. Live on iOS and Android. Starting with San Francisco to Los Angeles and everything in between — already the most-searched route on the platform by a wide margin — with Tahoe close behind. If you drive one of these routes regularly, I'd genuinely like to know what would make you put a stranger in your car. seatsherpa.app

One thing I should have led with: you don't need the app to try it. seatsherpa.app/rides shows every live ride, and you can book a seat right there in the browser — pick the seat, pay by card, chat with the driver. Launch-day thank-you for PH: code PRODUCTHUNT takes $5 off a first ride this week. And if you drive SF→LA or LA→SD regularly, I'd love to hear what would make you post a seat.

Seat Sherpa

Gas is expensive. Carpool.

Gas is expensive. Carpool.