Similar concepts and technology usage

A smooth working system of instant Ridesharing using GPS and WiFi networking is an outgrowth of a few successful transportation experiments. Called Slugging in the D.C. area - complete with informal rules, and Washington State and Idaho have carpool registration sites. New York commuters have their own system too.

Free and Instant Commuter Carpools - called "Slugging" In Washington DC and Virginia, they call it Slugging -- sort of a combination of hitchhiking and carpooling. Some call it "Casual Carpooling" This started over 30 year ago and today you will see DC commuters at 14th Street by the Memorial Bridge -- Drivers needing extra riders to get into the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes will pick up pedestrian commuters needing a ride to work. Commuting in Northern Virginia works without government regulation or support. Riders line up at dozens of designated stops and drivers pick up those going to their destination. http://www.slug-lines.com/ http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Shirley_Highway.html

Wireless GPS/WiFi location applications Your cell phone helps avoid a traffic ticket. Your mobile phone alerts you as you approach police speed traps. Trapster® works on any mobile phone, and also other devices like navigation systems, laptop computers, and CarPCs. It is a social network information exchange.

RideSharing Sites More formal registration and link ups with commuters based on specified routes and schedules. Ridesharing networks present a formal and structured transit connection - lasting over a longer time. http://www.erideshare.com/ is a free service for connecting commuters and travelers going the same way. eRideShare.com the top carpool and cross-country rideshare site in the US and Canada. RideshareOnline.com provides you an easy way to find others in Washington State or Idaho interested in sharing their carpool or vanpool commute.

Craigslist Rideshare posting Craigslist offers free listings for ridesharing in each community served by Craigslist. Contact and arrangements are the responsibility of the poster. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/  http://seattle.craigslist.org/rid/

University of Washington Intelligent Transportation Systems Research efforts focus on the application of computer and communications technologies to solving transportation problems. The ITS research program actively collaborates with government and industry, making it a regional resource for advanced answers to transportation issues. Achievements thus far include: SST and SWIFT Seattle Smart Traveler (SST) was the ride sharing component of the SWIFT project and demonstrated the ability to use advanced communications networks to facilitate dynamic ride sharing for employees of a large organization. Dynamic ride sharing is the concept whereby commuters are linked with one another for the purpose of sharing a single trip together. Unlike traditional shared ride arrangements, a dynamic ride-sharing system does not seek to place commuters in a permanent arrangement. Rather, a dynamic system allows individuals seeking to share a ride to learn of other commuters who share their trip (origin, destination, travel times) for just one specific trip. The trip can be a one-way or a round trip, and the shared trip is generally implemented within a short time after making arrangements. SST used the University of Washington, the largest employer in Seattle, as the site for the dynamic ride sharing demonstration. The SST program allowed users to quickly and easily learn of others who shared their transportation needs for any specific trip or set of trips that they wished to make. In addition, it allowed users to send an e-mail message to any or all of these individuals direclty from the SST application. http://sst.its.washington.edu/sst/ The SST system is no longer operational; however, a demonstration of the project can be viewed by following the SST link and clicking on the off-line demonstration that shows an example of a typical SST interaction. Further information about the results of the SST program can be found in papers that were presented at the 1996 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and at the 1997 Transportation Research Board Annnual Meeting. (all that happened before the Bush/Cheney team tried to kill everything worthwhile in civilization )

Green Car Congress http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/07/texting_sms_for.html The path to sustainable mobility is complex, with numerous competing and complementary approaches to alternative energy sources, production, distribution and applications; fuel and power-train options; materials; safety, economic and environmental considerations and trade-offs; policy issues; and different timelines for research, development and deployment. Green Car Congress' mission is to provide timely, high-quality editorial about the full spectrum of energy options, technologies, products, issues and policies related to sustainable mobility.

Texxi Texxi ("Texxi, the taxi you text") is a demand-responsive transit brokerage (DRT Brokerage) system. Use SMS messaging to book your seat on a shared taxi, limousine or bus with people travelling in the same direction you are. Texxi is a scheme that promotes social inclusion. The transit exchange maintains information about the accessibility status of a large number of road based for-hire passenger vehicles. This is a fully automated system that makes the task of locating, scheduling and dynamically allocating appropriate accessible vehicles much more simple and centralized. Texxi("Texxi, the taxi you text") is a demand-responsive transit brokerage (DRT Brokerage) system. Prospective passengers send their postcode to the Texxi SMS number. The system then aggregates other passengers wanting to go to the same area and confirms details of the taxi driver's name and badge number to the passengers Prospective passengers send their postcode to the Texxi SMS number. The system then aggregates other passengers wanting to go to the same area and confirms details of the taxi driver's name and badge number to the passengers. Passengers are instructed to go to pre-determined pickup points to meet the driver who will have received a text confirming each passenger's booking reference. In the prototype demonstration in Liverpool, each passenger will pre-pay a flat fee of £5.Benefits of this approach include: * Lower passenger fares for point-to-point travel. * Increased revenue for the taxi driver for essentially the same work. * Reduction of potential CO2 emissions and fuel consumption as the total number of trips are reduced.

Social resource sharing CouchSurfing.com CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit. Subscribers need to make the connections.