The problem

For many young Houstonians, getting hired is only part of the challenge. Getting to work reliably can be just as difficult.

Houston is geographically spread out, jobs and homes are often far apart, work schedules do not always align with transit, and daily ride-hailing can become expensive. Carpooling can help, but traditional carpooling has another limitation: finding one driver whose route and schedule match an entire trip can be difficult.

Our solution: Poollup

Poollup is a carpooling platform for Houston youth ages 16–24 that turns partial rides into connected journeys.

The idea is simple:

You don't have to drive the whole way to help someone get there.

Drivers offer seats along trips they are already making. If one driver can take a rider all the way to work, Poollup can create a direct carpool.

But when no single driver can complete the entire journey, Poollup introduces Relay Rides.

A rider can begin traveling with one driver while Poollup continues searching for compatible drivers farther along the journey. The rider can then transfer to another driver and continue toward the destination. Pickup and drop-off locations can adapt to available routes and safety considerations rather than requiring every trip to follow fixed transfer stops.

Instead of asking:

"Who can drive this person all the way to work?"

Poollup can ask:

"Which available drivers can combine parts of journeys they are already making to get this person to work?"

This approach is inspired by research into multi-hop peer-to-peer ride matching, which has explored how riders can transfer between drivers while accounting for timing, capacity, and routing constraints.

One app, more ways to get to work

Poollup is not intended to discard transportation resources Houston already has.

Houston METRO already provides carpool and vanpool resources through RideMatch and METRO Vanpool. Poollup's vision is to bring these options into a more unified experience while adding dynamic relay carpooling as another choice.

A rider could potentially use:

A direct Poollup carpool
A Poollup Relay Ride
METRO RideMatch carpooling
METRO Vanpool
Or a combination, such as a Poollup ride connecting the rider to a scheduled vanpool

The goal is choice: one place where a young worker can find the commute option that works for them.

Building a larger driver network

Poollup also proposes a cross-employer participation model.

Rather than limiting carpools to coworkers from the same company, participating employees across Houston could offer available seats along journeys they are already making. Employers, community organizations, METRO, and other partners could help recruit participants and explore incentives or subsidies that make participation worthwhile.

As participation grows, routes that are individually incomplete could become increasingly useful when connected through Poollup's relay network.

Safety and trust

Building the technology is only part of the challenge.

Poollup would need to earn the trust of young riders, families, drivers, employers, and community partners.

Our concept therefore includes identity and driver verification, trip visibility, pickup verification, trusted-contact sharing, reporting and blocking, and safety-aware handoffs between drivers.

Just as importantly, Poollup preserves rider choice. Someone who is not comfortable with relay carpooling could still explore direct carpools or existing METRO options through the same platform.

What we built

For the Houston Hackathon 2026, we built an interactive prototype that demonstrates the Poollup experience using modeled Houston commute scenarios.

The prototype demonstrates dynamic relay matching, connected rider and driver experiences, a single fare across multiple driver segments, safety features, and an integrated demonstration of METRO Vanpool and RideMatch workflows.

We also demonstrate a hybrid journey where Poollup helps a rider reach a scheduled vanpool connection—showing how a new mobility model could complement Houston's existing transportation infrastructure instead of replacing it.

What comes next

The next step is moving from prototype to pilot.

That means working with transportation partners, employers, youth-serving organizations, and community stakeholders to test driver participation, rider trust, relay handoffs, safety procedures, pricing, and potential funding models.

Our long-term vision is ambitious:

Make Poollup a citywide youth carpooling platform where Houston's existing transportation resources and a new network of community drivers work together to make access to employment easier.

Different drivers. One connected journey.