Post your route, pick up someone heading the same way, split the cost of the trip. Starting where it's needed most: the roads between Maynooth, Sligo, Belfast and Cork.
Type any two towns in Ireland — search to see who's driving that way.
Wherever in Ireland a driver is heading, Yapalift automatically suggests the main towns along that road as pickup points. Only travelling part of the way? You join that driver for just your stretch, get picked up near the nearest exit, and pay only for the segment you actually ride. Here's what that looks like on a real route:
144 km · full trip cost split between everyone riding any part of it
38 km · priced only for that stretch, picked up near the N4 exit closest to you
Drivers list their trip, timing and free seats. Yapalift suggests the main towns along that road as pickup points, so passengers can join for the whole route or just their stretch of it.
Both sides confirm identity before anything's booked. Chat happens in-app first — no numbers exchanged until a seat is actually confirmed.
Split the real cost of the trip, then rate each other afterwards. Every trip builds a reputation that the next lift can see.
Every safety feature exists to answer one question: would you actually get in this car? Here's what has to be true before anyone does.
Government ID is confirmed with a live in-app photo capture — not an upload from a camera roll. No screenshots, no borrowed documents, no way to fake it after the fact.
Every account is tied to a confirmed phone number before it can post or book a single ride.
Driver and passenger both rate each other after every trip. You only see what you were given once you've rated back — no revenge reviews.
No personal numbers shared until a seat is booked. Every message before that stays on record, in the app.
Irish law draws one clear line, and everything turns on it: carrying people for reward needs a Small Public Service Vehicle licence. Yapalift is built so no journey on it is ever for reward.
We are not competing with taxi drivers, and we are careful not to. Nobody takes a Yapalift instead of a taxi across town. People take it instead of driving 200 km alone, or instead of not travelling at all because the bus does not go there. Every seat we fill is a car that was already on the road.
The price cap is enforced by the app, not left to trust: the suggested contribution is worked out from the actual car, its fuel consumption, current fuel prices and tolls, and drivers cannot charge above it. A driver who tries to profit is removed. Read the legal basis.
Every route gets a suggested price calculated from the actual cost of the trip — distance, current fuel price, and tolls — split evenly across the seats filled. Join for the whole route or just a stop-to-stop segment, and you're only charged for the stretch you actually ride. Drivers can't charge a margin on top; passengers always know the number is fair before they book.
I'm an architect from Maynooth. No car, unreliable trains, and one too many trips home spent standing at the side of the road watching empty seats drive right past me — that's where this started.
So I'm building Yapalift: a carpool that runs like a bus timetable, except the "buses" are everyday people already making the trip. Less traffic, lower costs for everyone, and maybe a neighbour along the way.
Yapalift is opening across Ireland, route by route. Tell us where you're going and we'll let you know the moment your route is live.