A Guide To L.A.'s 6 Best Alternative Taxi Services & Apps

Zimride

Type: Website, Rideshare How It Works: Similar to Airbnb, which allows the especially enterprising to rent out rooms in their homes like a hotel, drivers can rent out a seat in their car like a plane flight. As opposed to SideCar or Lyft, Zimride is good for longer trips, like a ride to the desert or any city that starts with "San." Users log in to their website, type in a start location, destination and date and a list of "seats" will pop up, along with the name of the driver, the price they're offering for the seat, and what time of day the ride departs. There's also a social networking component, as Zimride uses data from Facebook to tell you the driver's likes and musical taste, as well as what they do for a living. Hey, you're going to be riding with each other for a while and road music can be the difference between a good ride or a Black Eyed Peas-induced loss of sanity. Once you book the seat and the driver approves you, you'll exchange contact details so you can arrange to meet. And rest assured, Zimride says, you'll get a full refund if your driver is a no-show. Payment is made via PayPal and drivers get paid one day after a ride is complete or upon the return of a round-trip ride. Price: Depends on the seat, but probably no more than a bus fare. Features:

• Originally focused around colleges and tech companies, so if you're a part of these networks you'll probably find a good amount of activity and rides.
• The structure allows for a good alternative to Amtrak and LAX. Additionally, if you're headed somewhere, it's easy enough to make some extra cash (or take advantage of the HOV lane) by listing yourself as available to give others a ride to the general vicinity of your destination.

[Photo via @rubychase]