An Internet-based ride-sharing program linking cost-conscious commuters and trip-takers is launching in the Brazos Valley, a local official said Wednesday.

NuRide -- a system that Houston and Galveston ride-sharers have been using for three years -- is providing its software as part of a pilot project, free of charge.

"Think of it as eHarmony for riders and drivers," Michael Parks, assistant executive director of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, told the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization's policy committee.

Officials with NuRide want area officials to know about the program so they can spread the word to area employers.

NuRide gives incentive points for each ride shared, according to its Web site, www.nuride.com. Site participants can then redeem those points for sponsor "rewards," such as gift cards at area stores and restaurants.

The site has 19 participants in the immediate seven-county region, and 21 rewards are available, according to a "Sneak Peek" section of the NuRide Web site. To participate, commuters must have a destination in its service area, which includes Houston-Galveston.

Registered users also must have ties to an organization, such as an employer or school, according to the site. Therefore they cannot register with e-mail addresses from services such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, AOL and others.

"This is not car-pooling in the traditional sense," Parks told the MPO committee. "It goes out and looks for people who go to the same area you're going, or if you're going to Houston next week you can look and see who's going your direction."

Members can then communicate anonymously, providing as much or as little information as they want, Parks said.

The site also will calculate for members the miles, emissions and fuel dollars saved.

"That's why Houston is doing this," Parks said of the Houston-Galveston Area Council, a voluntary association of 132 local governments. "They have 10,000 people in their system now, saving millions of miles per year."

Some MPO officials expressed concern Wednesday about security for members using the site.

"Until you get there, you don't know who you're riding with," Brazos County Judge Randy Sims said. "Jack the Ripper could be sitting in that car."

Sims also asked how ride-sharers would know whether their drivers carried liability insurance.

Parks said that the service empowers individuals to make decisions about their ride-share arrangements and that the service and sponsoring company assume no liability on the part of users.

"You can't start something without a vehicle to do it," said Texas Department of Transportation district engineer Bryan Wood. "Employees at my office say they need this sort of information to be able to communicate."

Parks said the COG was sending letters to major employers in the region, asking them to participate financially in NuRide or to encourage their employees to join.

• Holli L. Estridge's e-mail address is holli.estridge@theeagle.com.

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