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It seems the natural progression of this service is not paying each other $5-$10 for a ride, but some sort of service that allowed getting and giving credits for sharing rides.

Most of us in the bay area have cars (because public transportation is stinking horrible). I want more to lessen my burden on the environment/save money on gas by sharing the road. A more natural pair would be to easily find people who share my commute and then rotate rides.

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They're using credits. It's called money.

Why is it preferable for the "credits" to be in units other than currency?

I'm guessing it's because the OP wants riders to also be drivers, so you don't end up with one set of people making less than minimum wage to drive another set of people around (the Uber model). Of course, this won't work with formal "credits," since people will just create a market exchanging "credits" for dollars. This is where an informal reputation system shines: people eventually identify freeloaders, and kick them out of the carpool.

Because when it's money the goal is money. I desire the goal to be efficient and fair ride sharing.

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