The one time I tried using the state’s match-up service for commuters – Go Maine – I didn’t have much luck. Not even a nibble on my post a couple of years ago to find a shared ride from Portland to the Common Ground Fair in Unity (admittedly, I was seeking a one-time ride, not a commuter arrangement). Now Go Maine, run by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority, is encouraging people to try a new, or rather Nu, way of getting to work with a smaller environmental footprint.

NuRide is a free online service that rewards participants for walking, biking, telecommuting, carpooling, vanpooling, taking public transportation or working a compressed work week. It also helps them find carpools to get to work. When you sign up, it asks for your address, the times you go to and leave work, whether you prefer to ride with a man or woman, and what you are looking for – a carpool, vanpool or a partner to bike, walk or take transit with.

I recorded my Wednesday commute – I walked to work and took a bus home – and found myself with 200 points (it seems to be based on the honor system).

According to the website, points are redeemable at an assortment of 74 businesses, including Ace Hardware (10 percent off a $100 online order for 2,200 points), Franklin Park Zoo in Boston (free admission for a child with an adult admission purchase for 700 points) and Outside Magazine ($10 subscription discount with 1,000 points).

The website also allows you to track how much money you save and emissions you prevent, and it gives you the picture of the entire state, or at least those who also have NuRide accounts.

Since Maine signed on with NuRide in September, $260 of rewards have been redeemed, 8,480 gallons of gas and 172,774 calories saved. I’m not entirely sure how they calculate these things or whether I would ever actually use any of the possible rewards – but no matter. Anything that encourages carpooling and public transportation in this rural state, anything that gets even a few cars off the road, is okay by me. Sign up at gomaine.org. — PEGGY GRODINSKY