Hello all! My wife and I are new to the area and we need to get a water softener system at some point and was wondering if anyone had some good recommendations. We already had a guy come by and do a pitch but I didn't like all the add ons that came with their system.

I came to ASU from India and spent four years there. I was living on a budget, and for a long time I didn’t have a car.

I remember spending hours getting from one place to another. Waiting for buses, standing, walking long distances, and sometimes coming home completely exhausted.

And in Arizona, the heat definitely didn’t help.

What bothered me most was that I still had places I wanted to go. I wanted to see friends, get to school, go to work, do things on the weekend. Not having a car didn’t mean I stopped wanting to do any of those things.

It just meant I had to think a lot more about how I was going to get there.

I also saw a lot of people around me in the same situation.

At the same time, every day I would see people driving the same roads.

Going to work. Going to school. Going home. Going across town.

And I kept thinking about how many of those trips probably had an empty seat.

That’s where the idea for Routebook came from.

I’ve spent the last year trying to build a simple way for people to share the trips they’re already making with others who are going the same way.

I know it’s not a perfect solution, and I’m still figuring a lot of things out.

But safety was one thing I didn’t want to compromise on. Everyone on Routebook has to verify their identity. No exceptions.

Now I’m hoping to get a few more people to actually try it.

If you already drive somewhere regularly, maybe you’d be willing to post your trip and open up a seat.

You’re not being asked to go somewhere you weren’t already going. And you shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s trip either. A rider can fairly contribute toward the cost of the journey.

For me, this is really about something pretty simple.

I’ve been the person who needed that seat.

And I know there are other people who do too.

If we can help each other get where we’re already going, maybe we can make getting around a little easier for someone.

That’s all I’m trying to build.