A new on-line carpooling database that matches up commuters throughout the region could help commuters staggering from high gas prices.

The free on-line carpooling matching was created earlier this summer by the Clean Air Community Trust based in Asheville with the aim of reducing air pollution from vehicles. But it’s economics that ultimately could drive commuters to carpool.

Hundreds of residents from Jackson and Haywood counties commute to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in Cherokee, but might not know who each other are. Thousands commute to Asheville daily, according to census data.

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

A match might not show up right away, but as more people enter the database, the easier it will be to find matches. The Web site is www.sharetheridenc.org.