Building a Ridesharing App That Works

Can you talk a little bit about what you see as lacking in the current rideshare offerings?

The newest one seems to be GoLoco (http://goloco.org), from the founder of ZipCar. Others I found with a quick google are Divide the ride (http://www.dividetheride.com/), iCarPool (http://www.icarpool.com/), and eRideShare (http://www.erideshare.com/). I haven't actually used any of them so I don't have a great frame of reference.

So as I said in an earlier post, the problem as I see it with current ridesharing apps is that:

1) it's too hard to find a ride from/to where you want to go

2) there is no trust/friend network built in to the systems. the effect is lack of control for who you're going to end up with, which prevents all but converted ride share advocates from joining in.

3) the current apps are all things I've never heard of, where I never go.

Here's what I propose from a DIYcity ridesharing app to address these problems:

1. The app is a Facebook app.

2. The app addresses inter-city travel, e.g. Boston to NYC or SF to LA, or other common travel circuits.

3. The app creates distinct channels for each of these travel circuits - so everyone who is interested in rides between Boston and NYC sees one board, everyone interested in rides between LA and SF see another, etc.

Making it a FB app means:

- nobody has to register
- the app lives in a place where everyone already spends all of their time
- there is the ability to build trust/friend networks into the system - users can specify "only broadcast this ride request x degrees out from me"
- it can go viral pretty easily

Making it address only inter-city travel means:

- people will generally do a bit more planning for the trip than if it were a trip within their city. that gives them more time to find the ride they're looking for.

- a relatively finite number of trips exist, and we can focus on high-traffic channels, like Boston to NYC first.

Making each inter-city route into it's own channel, with separate page, or separate alerts for each route means:

- users see only info pertaining to trips they are interested in. this improves the signal to noise ratio hugely, and creates community around specific routes that people drive frequently.

Those are some starter ideas for this app.

I did look at Zimride, though I haven't tried it.They do use a facebook app, true.  That's a good start.  I don't see any use of friend networks with their app though, so the FB app just seems like maybe just a way to get more traction.
And the biggest problem is that, again, they have rides to and from everywhere all stacked together.  So when I search for a ride from Brooklyn, NY to Boston I see a long list of rides like "New York to Worcester", "New London CT to Boston", "New York to Lawrence, MA", etc.
Also, why bother to have people register for a separate site?  Why not just make it native to FB?I will sign up and try it out to learn more, but I think that an app that:- stacked users into verticals by start point / end point  (e.g. a Boston ==> NYC board)
- actively made use of friend networks, and- focused on the most commonly traveled inter-city routeswould be an app that could get broad traction with lots of people.This could work sort of like a grassroots version of Fung Wah buses, but for everywhere.

Hi John, I’ve been following the rideshare industry for quite some time now and am also thinking of similar applications. Many of the problems you mention are actually being addressed by a number of sites – these include PickupPal, Hitchsters, Facebook Carpool (formerly called Zimride), and Goose Networks. I’ll send you a summary of these sites under separate cover, but first let me offer my take on the current state of ridesharing.

The idea of dynamic ridesharing has been tried many times and to date failed, in that a sustainable market of drivers and riders failed to materialize. The most significant reason for failure, however, is the lack critical mass. While other inhibitors (such as incentives and attitudes) are important, critical mass is just that: critical. Even if a service has a significant number of users, it will quickly lose them if it cannot facilitate successful ride matches. Standalone rideshare sites (such as goloco and erideshare) expect people to find them when they want to carpool; however, this business model has failed time and time again since carpooling is not a mainstream idea.

I’m certain that one way to develop a successful rideshare model is to partner with pre-existing communities and tap into networks that already exhibit critical mass. For example, build a rideshare widget that can be embedded by any event organizer into their site. Let’s use the Bonnaroo Music Festival as an example. Bonnaroo attracts over 80,000 attendees from all over the country; over 30% come from the states of Tennessee, Ohio, and New York. A Bonnaroo organizer can add your rideshare widget to their site, which displays members who have joined the community. To become a member of this rideshare community, all a user would have to do is import their current facebook profile, which can be done in a single step. As Bonnaroo attendees continue to add themselves to the community, the chances of ride fulfillment continue to increase. By enabling like-minded individuals to share rides, you also mitigate many of the safety and trust issues with traditional ridesharing. Choosing this model can also build brand-recognition, which will later allow you to become the name in ridesharing…i.e. when people are looking for inter-city trips, they’ll come to your site.

Another possible solution – and one that I like better - is to target corporate carpooling. It’s a bit of a spin on existing models, and would also naturally position the product for innovation in the area of route matching. By route matching, I mean partnering people who don't share the same origin, but can be connected along the same/similar routes. Build software that integrates with a company’s HR database. Enable them to quickly import their entire employee staff and generate rideshares. Furthermore, provide them with powerful reporting features which enable organizations to monitor their environmental impact and create relevant press releases. I like corporate carpooling better for a number of reasons:

1. Environmental Impact: Corporate carpooling is a daily activity whereas event-specific ridesharing occurs only once. As such, the amount of miles saved and CO2 prevented will be significantly greater.

2. Social Impact: people who carpool regularly may change their long-term habits, whereas the occasional rideshare will likely consider it just a novelty.

3. Competitive Advantage: Rideshare sites have gained much ground (as of late). Many are focusing on event-based ridesharing; and many are catering specifically to music festivals. Some sites are also focusing on the corporate carpooling, but few have really created a product catered specifically for this market. This creates a good opportunity in a niche market, but time is of the essence.

4. Business Development: Pitching to festivals and events could be very challenging. They are geographically dispersed and demographically inconsistent. They also require significant PR efforts (and are already being courted). Focusing on organizations would allow one to target their efforts regionally and to a very specific demographic.

5. Incentives: One of the inhibitors for ridesharing is the lack of incentives. Since ridesharing is focused on one-time trips, the monetary exchange has to be worked out between driver and rider; however, there is already a system in place (by state governments) that provides monetary incentives for carpooling (see $100 NJDOT Gas Card Reimbursement). There is potential to broker the exchange between governments and corporations, creating a win-win situation for each party.

Please contact me if you want to discuss further.

J - I completely agree that Facebook is a natural fit for a ridesharing app, and it would be silly to create a service without Facebook integration. But I don't think friend networks alone will facilitate ridematches. Typically, you know when your friends are traveling to the same place as you are.

I believe it's connecting people that have little and/or no connections that will make ridesharing succeed. Like you said, it not only saves time, money, and the environment...but also provides an opportunity for social serendipity.

BTW - Dennis Crowley is my independent study advisor and pointed me towards DIY. For my thesis, I need to develop this rideshare system. Considering we're working towards the same goal, there seems to be ample opportunity for collaboration. Hit me up!

Cool - looks like we're assembling a group of people with some real knowledge on this subject. And it seems like the problems facing any ridesharing app have been very well-researched.

Maybe we should make this the next DIYcity Challenge - not to actually build anything, but to submit an idea for a ridesharing app that would get critical mass. And Jim, maybe you and Vikas can play an active role in interpreting the responses, merging ideas, etc.

I have just heard the podcast about the site...
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail4180.html
And this subject evoked an idea I've been batting around...

In this time of tightening belts, offering each other services outside of the normal range of commerce can allow individuals and small groups to prosper while spending less. So what if the ridesharing goes beyond people only?

I imagine needing to get a book/lamp/banner to a friend/colleague some distance away, but preferring to use something more appropriate/locally efficient/cheaper than UPS/FedEx/Post Office. Maybe I could look up a driver going to that location, and offer some gas money/bartered goods/bartered services for taking my object to its destination.

Apparently, a delivery ridesharing scheme already works amongst some grocery vendors, saving delivery costs when Brand A bread is going to the same place as Brand B coffee. As with that case, ridesharing for packages might require some small groups that limit membership so they can better collaborate and coordinate amongst themselves. But I expect the majority of traffic would come from one-by-one arrangements.

Ridesharing for stuff introduces new efficiencies:
- less delivery trucks are needed, reducing traffic and carbon footprint
- trade that would go to national/multinational corporations (UPS/FedEx) stays local
- this would add a neighborly networking social benefit that the standard delivery services don't offer
- with a reduced cost barrier to the movement of goods, exchanges can happen that might not have otherwise, improving a city's efficiency
- drivers can feel better about their carbon footprint
- this may be the first way to offer deliveries via electric or hybrid vehicles
- during disasters or movement restrictions from epidemics, this could offer additional robustness to a system for moving goods by remaining more localized

This notion has been nagging at me for a while. Driving a vehicle that doesn't change cargo capacity to fit my needs of the moment had always seemed inefficient. This notion is a step towards an ideal efficiency, made more possible with the increase mobile connectivity and location tracking of today's gadgets.

Of course, there would be some trust issues. These might be partially overcome by:
- establishing a reputation system like eBay's
- posting the pickup and delivery to Twitter (a kind of tracking)
- posting camera phone pics of the exchanges to Flickr (a kind of documentation/advertising)

I'm interested in hearing feedback. I will also post this idea to a group blog at:
terraformearth.wordpress.com

EcoGeekDan