🌱 Bishop O'Dowd High School

Carpool smarter.
Arrive together.

Connect with verified O'Dowd classmates near you. Save money, cut emissions, and turn your commute into a conversation.

4.6metric tons CO₂/car/year

54 hrslost to traffic annually

$1,200+saved per carpooling student

40%traffic drop if 10% carpool

How it works

Riding together has never been easier

Set up in minutes. Match with O'Dowd classmates. Start saving the planet — and your wallet.

1

Create Your Account

Sign up with your verified O'Dowd school email (@bishopodowd.org) — the only way in.

2

Find Nearby Classmates

Browse an interactive map showing O'Dowd students by neighborhood — Oakland Hills, Piedmont, and more.

3

Request or Post a Ride

Post an available seat or request a ride. Include a message and agree on compensation — free, cash, or baked goods 🍪.

4

Build Your Schedule

Set up a rotating weekly schedule. Confirm each ride as it happens to track your real impact.

5

Track Your Impact

Log your car, routes, and rides. Watch your CO₂ savings, time saved, and money saved grow in real time.

Features

Built for O'Dowd students

📍

Neighborhood Map

Interactive Google Maps showing classmates by area — Oakland Hills, Piedmont, Montclair, and more. No exact addresses.

💬

Safe Messaging

Chat only with students you've matched with. Every request includes a safety message so you know who you're riding with.

🗓

Ride Scheduler

Build a recurring schedule with quick confirmation for each ride. One tap to log it actually happened.

🚗

Car Emissions Tracker

Enter your car's year, make, and model. We calculate real MPG-based emissions saved on every trip automatically.

🏆

Leaderboard

Compete with classmates on emissions saved. Opt in with a nickname to appear on the school leaderboard.

👨‍👩‍👧

Parent View

Share a read-only link with your parent or guardian so they can see your carpool schedule and partners — safely.

The bigger picture

Small rides, massive impact

Here's what the data actually says about carpooling and why it matters right now.

29%

of US emissions from transportation

Personal vehicles are the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Every shared ride directly cuts that number.

4.6 tons

CO₂ per car per year

The average car emits 4.6 metric tons of CO₂ annually. Sharing your ride with one other person cuts your contribution in half immediately.

$1,200+

saved annually per student

Gas, parking, and wear costs add up fast. Carpooling 3 days a week can save a student over $1,200 per year — real money.

40%

less congestion possible

Research shows if just 10% more commuters carpooled, rush-hour congestion could drop by 40%. That's less time sitting in traffic for everyone.

Ready to ride smarter?

Join your O'Dowd classmates already saving money, building friendships, and protecting the planet — one ride at a time.

🌍 Environmental Impact

Why Carpooling Matters

The science is clear. Fewer cars on the road saves the planet, saves your wallet, and saves your sanity.

Carbon Emissions

Cars are a major climate problem

Transportation accounts for about 29% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — making it the single largest contributor to climate change. Personal vehicles make up the vast majority.

The average passenger car emits 4.6 metric tons of CO₂ per year. Carpooling with just one other person cuts your per-person emissions in half. Four people? Down to 25%.

Did you know?

🚗

1 car → 1 person
Average car occupancy during school rush: 1.09 people. Almost every car has an empty seat.

🌱

2 people = 50% fewer emissions
It's that simple. One passenger immediately halves per-person carbon output.

⛽

$1,800/year on gas
Average teen driver gas spend. Carpooling 3 days a week slashes that by over 60%.

⏱

54 hours lost to traffic yearly
Fewer cars = faster roads for everyone. Carpooling compounds its own benefit.

Ready to be part of the solution?

Every ride shared is a vote for a cleaner, less congested Oakland.

📖 Getting Started

How Commyute Works

From signup to your first ride — everything you need to know.

1

Sign up with your O'Dowd email

Use your @bishopodowd.org school email — verified through your inbox before you can access the app. This is how we keep the community Bishop O'Dowd students only — no parents, no outsiders.

2

Set your neighborhood and car

Enter your ZIP code — we place you in a neighborhood zone (like Oakland Hills or Piedmont) on the map. Add your car's year, make, and model so we can calculate real emissions savings.

3

Find classmates on the map

Browse an interactive Google Map showing O'Dowd students by neighborhood zone. No exact addresses — just general areas so you know who lives nearby.

4

Request or post a ride

Post an available seat in your car, or request a ride from someone. Every request includes a required safety message so both parties know who they're riding with. Choose compensation: free, cash, or baked goods.

5

Build your schedule

Set up recurring rides for each day of the week. After each ride, confirm it happened with one tap. This logs the trip, updates your emissions tracker, and keeps the leaderboard accurate.

6

Track your impact and compete

Every confirmed ride updates your personal impact stats — CO₂ saved, money saved, time saved. Opt into the leaderboard with a nickname to compete with O'Dowd classmates on emissions saved.

Compensation Options

🆓

Free

Neighbors helping neighbors. No money, just goodwill.

💵

Cash

Agree on a small gas contribution. Set your own rate.

🍪

Baked Goods

The most delicious way to commute to school.

🔒 Your Safety First

Built with Safety at Its Core

Every feature of Commyute is designed to keep Bishop O'Dowd students safe.

Verification

O'Dowd students only

✅ School email verification (@bishopodowd.org required)

✅ Email verified before account access is granted

✅ Administrator verification — coming soon

Only students with a verified Bishop O'Dowd email can access the platform. No parents, no outsiders, no anonymous accounts. Real names are required — tied to your school identity.

Privacy

Your exact location stays private

Commyute only stores your neighborhood zone — not your street or house number. The map shows approximate areas (like "Oakland Hills" or "Piedmont"), not addresses.

Exact pickup locations are shared only between confirmed carpool partners via private messaging — never on the public map.

👨‍👩‍👧 Parents can request a read-only view of their student's schedule and carpool partners via a shareable code generated from the student's profile.

Community Rules

Our safety commitments

🏫 O'Dowd Only

Only verified Bishop O'Dowd students can join. Every account is tied to a real school email.

💬 Ride-Gated Messaging

You can only message students you've sent or received a carpool request with. No unsolicited contact.

📝 Safety Message Required

Every ride request includes a required message so both parties know who they're riding with before accepting.

📛 Real Names Only

No anonymous profiles. All users register with their real name tied to their verified school email.

🚩 Report & Block

Any user can report or block another. Reports are reviewed by the Commyute admin.

👁 Parent Read-Only

Students can share a view-only link with parents showing their schedule and group members. Parents can't interact.

The Story

By Jonah Goldsmith, Founder

Nobody wants to take the bus to high school. When I started at Bishop O'Dowd, I needed a ride every morning and my parents couldn't take me. On top of that, only five kids from my grade school came with me, none of them close friends. I was starting from scratch.

Then I noticed a little yellow Mini Cooper a few streets down with an O'Dowd sticker on the back. I walked over and knocked on the door.

That knock changed everything. The driver was Felix, a senior, and he ended up giving me a ride to school every day of freshman year. He taught me how things worked, gave me advice, looked out for me. He was like the older brother I never had.

I got lucky with Felix. Commyute exists so every student can have that same experience without relying on luck.

That's why I built Commyute. It's a free carpooling platform where verified O'Dowd students can find classmates in their neighborhoods to share rides with. It's safe, it's simple, and it helps reduce carbon emissions, cut traffic, and save money on gas.

I launched Commyute at Bishop O'Dowd, but the plan is to expand to schools across the Bay Area and eventually across the country. Every school has students who need rides and students who can offer them. Commyute just connects them.

Back to Home

📬

Get in Touch

Questions, feedback, partnership inquiries, or just want to say hey.

Your Name

Your Email

Subject

Message

Or email directly: jgoldsmith27@bishopodowd.org

← Back to Home

🛣

Commyute

Create your account

Step 1 of 3 — Personal info

ℹ️ Commyute is for Bishop O'Dowd High School students only. You must use your @bishopodowd.org email.

First Name

Last Name

Age

Grade

School Email (@bishopodowd.org)

Password (min. 6 characters)

Your location & preferences

Step 2 of 3 — Where you're located

Your Home Area (for the neighbor map)

🔒 Only your approximate area is shown. If suggestions appear, select one for better accuracy.

I want to…

Your car & preferences

Step 3 of 3 — Vehicle & compensation

Do you have a car to drive?

Preferred compensation (as a driver)

Leaderboard nickname (optional — leave blank to stay private)

⏳ Your account will be active immediately. Administrator verification will be added soon for an extra layer of safety.

I agree to the Terms & Liability Waiver

Already have an account? Log In

🛣

Commyute

Welcome back!

Log in to your carpool dashboard

School Email

Password

Forgot password?

New to Commyute? Create an account

📬

Check Your Email

We sent a verification link to your @bishopodowd.org email address.

Open your Bishop O'Dowd email (mail.google.com or the Gmail app)
Look for an email from Commyute or noreply@commyute-13e3e.firebaseapp.com
Click the "Verify Email" link in the email
Come back here and click the button below

⏱ Check your spam/junk folder if you don't see it within 2 minutes.

Wrong email? Start over

Good morning! 👋

Welcome to Commyute

Rides This Month

0

CO₂ Saved

0

lbs

Money Saved

$0

Time Together 🤝

0

min in the car

This Week's ScheduleView all →

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Recent Rides

No rides logged yet. Log your first ride →

Pending Requests

No pending requests.

My Carpool Partners

No partners yet.

Neighbor Map 📍

Verified O'Dowd students near you — neighborhood level only

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🔒 Only approximate neighborhood zones are shown. Exact addresses are never displayed. Click a pin to request a ride.

Ride Requests 🚗

Incoming Requests

No incoming requests yet.

Your Outgoing Requests

No outgoing requests yet.

Available Rides 🪑

Classmates offering seats — request to join

🪑

No rides posted yet

Be the first to post an available seat for your classmates.

My Schedule 🗓

Your confirmed rides this week

⚡ Recurring Ride Shortcut

Set up a weekly pattern — confirm each ride with one tap

No recurring rides set up yet.

This Week

Ride History

🗓

No rides logged yet

Log your first carpool ride to start tracking your environmental impact.

Friends & Partners 👥

Your accepted carpool partners

👥 Partners are students who have accepted your ride request or whose request you accepted. You can only message partners.

👥

No partners yet

Browse the neighbor map to find O'Dowd classmates near you and send your first ride request.

Messages 💬

Only between confirmed carpool partners

No conversations yet.
Accept a ride request to start chatting.

Select a conversation to start messaging.

My Green Impact 🌿

Based on your actual confirmed rides and car data

Total CO₂ Saved

0

lbs of CO₂

Total Miles Shared

0

miles

Total Rides

0

trips

Money Saved

$0

Time Together 🤝

0

min in the car

Environmental Equivalents

🌳 Trees planted equivalent0

⚡ Energy saved0 kWh

🚗 Car trips offset0

📊 CO₂ and money stats use your car's real-world MPG (model-corrected for Bay Area driving). Time Together = total minutes you and your carpool partners spend in the car each ride, based on estimated drive time between your start and end points.

Log a New Ride

Enter your start and end points to calculate emissions saved. Only you can see your route details.

Start Address (private — only you see this)

End Address

Date of Ride

Were you the driver or passenger?

Number of people in car (including you)

Leaderboard 🏆

Bishop O'Dowd — ranked by CO₂ saved

🏆 Only students who opted in with a nickname appear here.

Top Emissions Savers — O'Dowd

Loading leaderboard...

Your Leaderboard Status

Set a public nickname to appear on the leaderboard. You can change or remove it anytime.

Your Public Nickname

My Profile 👤

?

✏️

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Bishop O'Dowd High School

✓ Verified Student Free

0

Rides

0

lbs CO₂

Account Details

Full Name—

Age—

Grade—

Email—

Neighborhood—

Available This WeekShow green ring on map

Car—

Leaderboard NicknamePrivate

Link Parent Account

Generate a 6-digit code for your parent or guardian to create a linked parent account. The code expires after 24 hours.

Trusted Contact (Optional)

This contact is shared only with your confirmed carpool partners — not publicly visible.

Guardian Name

Phone Number

My Car Details

No car added yet.

Blocked Users

No blocked users.

Driver License VerificationOptional but recommended

Upload a photo of your driver license. Only the admin can see the full image. Other students will see a ✓ License on file badge on your profile.

No license uploaded.

🪪

Click to upload driver license

JPG, PNG or PDF — only visible to admin

My Milestone Badges

🔗 Invite a Classmate

Share your link — when a classmate signs up through it, you both earn the "Connector" badge.

Your referrals: 0

⚙️

Admin Portal

Commyute · Bishop O'Dowd

⚠️ Restricted access. Authorized administrators only.

Admin Email

Password

Admin Key

Required in addition to your password for extra security

← Back to Home

⚙️

Commyute Admin

Bishop O'Dowd High School

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Total Students

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Active Riders

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Total Rides

—

CO₂ Saved

—

lbs

Open Reports

—

Show removed

🛣

Commyute

Parent Account

Create an account to monitor your student's carpool activity

👨‍👩‍👧 Parent accounts are view-only. You can see your student's schedule, partners, and ride history — but cannot interact with other students.

Your First Name

Your Last Name

Your Email

Password

Student's 6-Digit Pairing Code

Your student generates this code from their Profile page under "Link Parent Account"

Already have a parent account? Log In

Are you a student? Sign up here

🛣

Commyute

Parent Login

View your student's carpool activity

Your Email

Password

New parent? Create account

Are you a student? Student login

Parent Dashboard

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👁 View Only

Total Rides

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CO₂ Saved

—

lbs

Carpool Partners

—

Last Ride

—

Carpool Partners

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This Week's Schedule

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Recent Rides

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Notification Preferences

New carpool partner

Notify me when my student accepts a new carpool partner

Ride check-in alerts

Alert me if my student doesn't check in within 45 min of scheduled pickup

Weekly summary

Monday morning summary of last week's carpool activity

Commyute — Parent View

Read-only access. You cannot make changes to your student's account.

👁 View Only

Student Profile

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This Week's Schedule

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Carpool Partners

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Recent Rides

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Carpool smarter.Arrive together.

Riding together has never been easier

Create Your Account

Find Nearby Classmates

Request or Post a Ride

Build Your Schedule

Track Your Impact

Built for O'Dowd students

Neighborhood Map

Safe Messaging

Ride Scheduler

Car Emissions Tracker

Leaderboard

Parent View

Small rides, massive impact

of US emissions from transportation

CO₂ per car per year

saved annually per student

less congestion possible

Ready to ride smarter?

Why Carpooling Matters

Cars are a major climate problem

Ready to be part of the solution?

How Commyute Works

Sign up with your O'Dowd email

Set your neighborhood and car

Find classmates on the map

Request or post a ride

Build your schedule

Track your impact and compete

Compensation Options

Built with Safety at Its Core

O'Dowd students only

Your exact location stays private

Our safety commitments

The Story

Get in Touch

Create your account

Your location & preferences

Your car & preferences

Welcome back!

Check Your Email

Welcome to Commyute!

Your Neighborhood

Leaderboard Nickname

Good morning! 👋

Neighbor Map 📍

Ride Requests 🚗

Available Rides 🪑

No rides posted yet

My Schedule 🗓

No rides logged yet

Friends & Partners 👥

No partners yet

Messages 💬

My Green Impact 🌿

Leaderboard 🏆

My Profile 👤

Loading...

Parent Account

Parent Login

Parent Dashboard

Commyute — Parent View

Terms of Use & Liability Waiver

Welcome to Commyute!

Post an Available Ride

Request a Ride

Log a Ride

Add Your Car

Edit Profile

Create Group Chat

Parent View Link

Set Up Recurring Ride

Report a Student

Carpool smarter.
Arrive together.