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Instant Carpooling. Steve Raney ULTra PRT (Heathrow Nov ’09) Cities21 new mobility non-profit Patent: Wireless carpool assistant Dynamic Ridesharing (DRS) Match within 3 days Instant Ridesharing (IRS) within 15 minutes. Empty seats: policy. 1000X more cost-effective Duh! Reduce demand
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Instant Carpooling • Steve Raney • ULTra PRT (Heathrow Nov ’09) • Cities21 new mobility non-profit • Patent: Wireless carpool assistant • Dynamic Ridesharing (DRS) • Match within 3 days • Instant Ridesharing (IRS) • within 15 minutes.
Empty seats: policy • 1000X more cost-effective • Duh! Reduce demand • IRS: Reduce 1 SOV phone • Metro extension, 1 SOV new Mercedes • Homeland economic security • SF Bay Bridge in ’89 quake, MN I-35W bridge collapse • Need rapid capacity response • Policy jumpstarts • Charge $8/day suburban parking 23% commute shift • Extend commute benefits & tax breaks to DRS commuting. Federal workers, especially • More HOV lanes.
“Obvious” Idea • Shaheen: 1% SOV mode shift • 11 past, 8 current, 10 future • see www.dynamicridesharing.org • Zimride, GoLoco, nuride, Carticipate, Goose Networks, RideNow, ecolane, Seattle Smart Traveler, Google RideFinder, Hoverport, etc. • Invention prevalence • Not obvious • Carnegie Mellon West theme. 4 teams vote no • Goose. $111K WSDOT grant, 322 rides, $345/ride • RideNow. 12 out of 3K BART recruiting.
Still not obvious • Sparse GIS distribution • Carticipate: 10K members (need 1.5M) • Avego: 2,400 members • Members form permanent carpools & drop out.
What will work? • $10/gal, 10% commuters, 100% GPS (API) smartphones + in-vehicle navigation systems • Clever • Nuride corridor strategy (not an “area”) • ZimRide college portals • “Instant” via iPhone or Android: high LOS • Avego integrate seats: bus, vanpool, private cars • 40 person software team w/ $12M committed VC • Google “New mobility” “platform” • Maps w/ traffic, Transit, RideFinder, Android. MCI, AOL Homes
Helps: Reduce SOV Advantage • Travel utility = f(travel time, travel cost, travel experience {hassle, stress, comfort, entertainment value}, parking hassle, parking cost, reliability) • When util(SOV) < util (HOV), then we have: • SF Bay Bridge Casual Carpooling (save 15 min & $5 bridge toll) • DC slugging (HOV-only!) • Microsoft Redmond casual evening rides back to Seattle • Casual Carpooling and slugging: “perfect storm” • Very few other places where HOV is close to SOV • IRS pilots have higher chance of success where there is reduced SOV advantage. IRS incentives increase HOV util.
Helps: Peak Oil – hurry up!!! • Plenty of petrol (shale, tar sands) • Gets expensive to extract • China & India drive skyrocketing demand.
Avego Corridors • Bus route-like. Driver does not deviate route • Pre-defined stops on arterials • <1% is fine – “sliver of critical mass” • Driver: every day: run Avego, some days: give ride. LOS • Drive new route w/ iPhone, mark stops, edit stops via web • “wiki”-like. User created routes/stops/content.
IRS Safety • Reality: casual carpooling • Perception: Susan UCD focus group • Axe murderers? Sensationalized • Hitchhiking is anonymous, DRS is not • Start: Rides w/i social/work network • Avoid 1 male, 1 female • Reputation rating • PIN code & photo to verify ride • Possible: background check • Possible: Big Sister (homesafe).
Last: Collaboration • Really big world problems • Grow “more human” • 2040 humans can’t understand 2009 • Web 2.0 enables collaboration with zero management cost • Unleash human goodness (make it easy) • Many people, a few minutes per day • Satisfaction: solve something that govt fails at • IRS & new mobility: social movements.
Technology • Notifications • Prediction alg • Payment.
Knowledge worker commute • Large suburban solo driving reduction is hard • 80% SOV to 79% SOV is hard • But, SOV is “least worst,” not loved • SOV: no-brainer background task • Charging $6 per day for parking works ($9 gas) • Pay $4 per day not to park - fails • Current carpooling: “fampools” • Value of time • Commute: 50% of hourly. Lunch: 200% • Waiting under uncertainty, 3X • Each commuter: basket of objections.
Knowledge worker commute • 30% time penalty: OK (20 min SOV vs. 26 min alternative) • Traditional carpool psychology is complex: • Matchmaking: anonymous, superficial rejection (web dating) • Sleep, uncertainty stress, and safety are important • Customer support: eliminate nightmares • Mid-day stranding: mtngs, lunch, shop • PM Stranding: want “no penalty” emergency ride home • Good commute: “time went fast.”
How to grow pilot routes? • Work with existing carpool flow vectors • Have fixed carpools also make dynamic pickups • Target demographic? • “Practice” by picking up “ghosts.”
GrassRoutes • Get a couple of folks together (commuters) • Grow circle to 5 drivers and 5 riders on a route • Avego: help with phones & guaranteed ride home • 10 people can change the world • Grow from 10 people, add routes.
Avego Shared Transport • Mapflow (parent): 40 person company. Congestion charging in London. Maps (GIS). Tracking cars (GPS) • Avego division mission: reduce SOV • (SOV: single occupancy vehicle) • Shared Transport: iPhone instant carpooling • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgTNK85bG_k • Integrates with vanpools, traditional carpools, buses.
Avego Status • $12M in venture capital • iPhone software on Apple AppStore • Very difficult to succeed (hurry up Peak!) • Long, multiyear campaign • We don’t know what will work (try stuff!) • Pilot project at a 20,000-student university • Campus shuttle bus system is integrated • Futurefleet “coach bus” pilot project.
Steve Raney bio • Launch consultant for Avego • ULTra personal rapid transit (London Heathrow Airport) • 3 masters: business, software, and transportation from Columbia, RPI, and Berkeley • Tech product research at Microsoft, Citigroup, and Silicon Valley start-ups • Proj Mgr for BART’s Group Rapid Transit study • Principal Investigator for the U.S. EPA’s "Transforming Office Parks into Transit Villages" study • Author: 5 Transportation Research Board (TRB) papers • Patent: "wireless carpool assistant" • Conference presentations: TRB, Association for Commuter Transportation, Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress, Rail~Volution, Greenbuild Expo, Engineers for a Sustainable World, Housing California, and American Planning Association (California Chapter).