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Stop Waiting, Start Sharing – Carpool Your Way with ConnectSmart and Win a Stanley Cup!

  • Writer: Grey Cheng
    Grey Cheng
  • Dec 11, 2025
  • 3 min read
Stanley Cup contest

Fall is here, and in Houston, that means traffic ramps up. Between events, school in session, and weekend plans, your usual drive can turn into a crawl. But this year? There’s a better way — carpooling with ConnectSmart is your speedy shortcut through the congestion with HOV routing. You can earn even more rewards by playing our Carpool Challenge Bingo game from November 5 through November 18, 2025, to earn 10 Coins!


Why Scheduled Carpool is Your Game-Changer


  • 💲HOV routing. Money saved. Take a Scheduled Carpool with your buddy using the ConnectSmart app to take advantage of the HOV lane. You’ll save money on gas and parking! You’re on your way.

  • 🛣️ Skip the traffic-filled solo drives. Especially when heading into Downtown, the Galleria, Upper Kirby, NRG, and the Memorial areas, these are busy places where Instant Carpool truly pays off – saving you time and reducing traffic.

  • 🪙 Potential for bonus rewards after every carpool. Each trip counts, whether you’re a driver or rider, with our new spinwheel feature. And yes — there’s a chance to win a green ConnectSmart Stanley Cup just for carpooling with someone else.


How It Works: Automatic Matching + Personalization 🚗


  • Join or Create a Carpool Group: First, you must belong to a group to match with a driver or rider. To join one, go to the Carpool page and tap Manage Groups. Search for a group by name or location, like one of our five new public groups shown below. You can also create your own public or private group and invite others to join. 


manage carpool groups

  • Set Up Your Carpool Trip: Tap Scheduled Carpool. If you’re driving, select your days, time, route, chip-in fee (if you want money for gas), and willingness to go out of your way to pick up a rider. Then tap Find Matches and wait for a match to appear. If you’re riding, fill out your days, time, and route.


Set up a scheduled carpool

  • Match Invitation: Once you receive a potential match, tap into their profile and send an invitation if you’re interested in picking them up. If they send you an invitation first, accept or decline it.


send a carpool invitation to a match

  • Approve the Carpool Trip: Once both parties have approved the trip, you are ready to start at your carpool time! When the driver arrives, slide to confirm their arrival. When the driver picks up the rider, slide to confirm pick up.


start a scheduled carpool

  • End of Carpool Trip: Once the ride is over, slide to confirm the rider has been dropped off. Then rate your passenger and submit. If you don’t wish to ride with them again, you can check the box to not be matched with this person moving forward.


end a scheduled carpool trip

  • Voila — your trip is logged, and you earn rewards. 


  • Click here to see the process for a driver and here to see the process for a rider in action.


Ready to ride smarter?


Open ConnectSmart, tap Scheduled Carpool, wait for a match, and send them an invite... start making every trip count. Traffic is overrated — and sharing a carpool trip is powerful.


Match with another carpooler, share the ride, win the Stanley Cup.


*Participation rules apply: 

  • Make sure you’ve downloaded the ConnectSmart Mobility app from the Apple App Store or Google Play

  • In order to qualify for the raffle, you must take an instant or scheduled carpool using the ConnectSmart app 

  • The raffle will be held from October 9, 2025, through November 18, 2025

  • The winner will be randomly drawn on November 19, 2025

  • Only one Stanley Cup will be awarded

  • The winner will be informed via email, and a time will be arranged to pick up the prize from our main office

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