Live in Sylva and work for Drake in Franklin?

Live in Waynesville and work at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino?

Live in Bryson City and work at Western Carolina University?

Live in Canton and work at Mission Hospital in Asheville?

Check out the carpooling database at sharetheridenc.org.

A new on-line carpooling database is matching up commuters with the aim of reducing air pollution from vehicles.

Power plant emissions are gradually being reduced through legislation that phases in pollution controls. Meanwhile, vehicle miles per capita are growing exponentially.

“Automobiles will soon be the largest contributor of ozone causing pollution in this region,” said Margie Meares, executive director of Clean Air Community Trust.

Vehicle emissions in this region tend to get caught in bowls and against the mountains, augmenting the problem. Clean Air Community Trust is promoting the new site as a way to reduce this growing form of pollution. Maybe someone who lives in your neighborhood works at Mission Hospital, but on a different floor so you’ve never met them, Meares said. Or maybe someone works in a different building on the Western Carolina University campus and is also commuting 45 minutes to work each way, Meares said.

The Web site is simple to navigate: type in where you live, where you work, and the how far a radius you would be willing to commute with someone. If the computer finds a match, the commuters are responsible for emailing or calling each other to set up the car pool.

“The database works best when there’s a lot of people in the database,” said Meares. “If you don’t get a match your first try, go back in a couple of weeks or a month.”

More people are entering commuter information for carpool matches every day, Meares said.

In addition to the environmental benefits of carpooling, it will reduce traffic problems and parking pressures, Meares said.

“But the thing I think will motivate people the most is the price of gasoline. At well over $2 a gallon, folks can save about $1,000 a year leaving their cars at home,” Meares said.

A grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina is providing partial support for the Clean Air Community Trust’s effort.