Can an app solve congestion and save the planet?
- Olivia Cross
We talk to two young entrepreneurs with a passion for environmental justice and a mission to reduce the number of cars on our roads.
27-year-old Todd Foster and 26-year-old Claudia Graves share a vision for a cleaner planet, out of which grew ‘Hitch’ – a ride-sharing service that encourages carpooling with strangers for fewer cars on the road!
“For us, it’s all about the contribution of climate change that empty seats represent here in New Zealand.”
“We have a vision of creating a cleaner greener society – a society with less cars and more connected healthier communities.”
This new and exciting app is not only getting cars off the road but connecting people who would have otherwise never met, and is developing stronger community relations. The biggest challenge though seems to be the love Kiwis have for their cars, and therefore their reluctance to cut down on driving.
“The car culture is so deeply embedded in the way in the way that we live, and so this is actually fundamentally a behavioural change issue that we’re trying to address.”
While the image of a greatly reduced number of cars on the road seems extremely far away, Todd and Claudia stress the damage our carbon emissions are making to the environment and the importance of innovations like Hitch has never been clearer.
By Olivia Cross
