Cab-sharing hookup? Visit Hitchsters.com

You've landed at Kennedy Airport, only to discover a cab ride to downtown Manhattan will cost you twice the price of your fight into New York. You're screwed, right?

Not in the age of the internet. A new free online service, Hitchsters.com, can pair you up with another traveler looking to share a cab ride and fare.

The process seems very easy to use. You go on-line, list your arrival time/flight and in-town destination. Next, you check out the hopper of others wishing to share a cab. Here you have the opportunity to select the sex of your co-rider if that matters to you. You then receive an e-mail or text message with details of your match, so that you can make final arrangements. No names or other personal information about one another are divulged.

The rule of thumb is that first out pays 60%, which seems fair to me. Although perhaps the person who has to chat with the cabbie should get the lower price?

Although the service is only available in Manhattan and Brooklyn currently, Hitchsters plans to expand the service. And none too soon, in my humble opinion. I would rather save a few bucks than pay for a half-empty taxi.