With fall break steadily approaching and Thanksgiving trailing not too far behind, Penn State students will inevitably scramble to find rides back to their hometowns.

A new Web site, HomeboundNetwork.
com, allows students to search for rides and add ride offers to its database.

Brennan Dunn, a student at Florida State University, founded the Web site to make finding rides more convenient for student drivers and passengers.

"It's a replacement for ride boards, he said. "It's a very efficient and easy way of matching up drivers and riders."

Dunn came up with the idea for the site last fall while traveling home from school and noticing many students driving alone on the highway.

"I thought, 'Why not match them up?' " Dunn said.

He made the site available last March, but it gained its popularity this fall as students plan to travel home
for their breaks and holidays.

"I anticipate Thanksgiving being big for Homebound," Dunn said.

To get started using the Web site, students are required to create a user account with an address where payments can be mailed to drivers, a password and their student e-mail address to verify their status as a student.

There is a small fee for reserving a seat on a trip. Through an online credit card and checking system, students pay for their trips at a rate of 2 cents per mile.

"There will never be a trip for $3," Dunn said. "But there's never anything too expensive."

HomeboundNetwork.com offers a restriction option enabling drivers to allow only members of the same gender, and Dunn encourages matched-up students to meet briefly before the trip to establish a comfort level.

"A lot of female drivers aren't comfortable driving with males they don't know," Dunn said.

There is also a "WatchDog" setting that will automatically search for the user's hometown destination for major holidays and e-mail the user with any relevant details regarding their trip.

"WatchDog keeps the student riders from searching for rides. They don't need to worry and go back and check every day," Dunn said.

Dunn said this automatic search feature is what distinguishes his site from normal ride boards.

Penn State students have access to one such ride board on The Daily Jolt Web site, psu.dailyjolt.com.

Ryan Karchner, Daily Jolt administrator, said the site "provides students with a wide variety of different tools that they can use at their disposal to relate to things at Penn State."

Although he said he hasn't received any feedback on how easy the ride board is to use, he said he believes it's easier to find a ride home by using it.

"If you're a freshman in East Halls, there are only a certain amount of students with a car," Karchner said.

"By posting on The Daily Jolt you are reaching a bigger audience, he said."

Rachel Wilks (senior-accounting) said she finds it easier to offer rides via the Internet and usually posts on The Daily Jolt ride board to offer rides. She added that she has been successful in finding someone about half the time.

"It depends if it's a vacation weekend or a regular weekend," she said.

Kristen Callaghan (sophomore-nursing) said she has tried using the more traditional method of fliers to find a ride home, but has not been as successful.

"I put them up in West [Halls] and East [Halls] and nobody responded," she said.

Anna Folmnsbee, a Greyhound Lines spokeswoman, said the majority of Greyhound customers buy tickets within two or three hours of travel at walk-up locations. However, overall, the student generation tends toward purchasing via the Internet.

"The Internet is a great tool, especially for students, as far as booking travel," Folmnsbee said. "I think it's a great thing."