Introduction

The idea is ride share, not really anything new. However, no major companies have really looked into it and I think integrating an idea like ride share into yahoo maps could really change things and be that new idea that gives yahoo maps a new boost over competitors.

Motivation

I recently visited Bangladesh. Like most Asian countries, some very popular modes of transport in Bangladesh are rickshaws. A person from Bangladesh asked me if the U.S. has rickshaws. When I answered no, he asked how people in the U.S. get from place to place. I had to explain to him that other than in cities like New York, its very hard to get by without a car. Even in a city like Atlanta, the span and reliability of public transportation is often sparse and slow. However, I think ride-share can alleviate the commuting problem a little bit.

Consider the following scenario. I go to yahoo maps. I specify my starting destination and ending destination. Then, things get interesting.

Ride-share Marketplace

I go to a new ride-share market place. Potential ride givers are traversing a path similar to mine. These potential ride-givers have their smart-phones handy along with a mobile version of bing maps. I place a bid for how much I am willing to pay to hitch a ride. Other people traversing my path can see my bid along with how much of a hit they will take on their own trip in terms of distance and time. Then, they can choose to offer offer the ride. If multiple people offer a ride, the price of the trip can be negotiated down. If multiple people need a ride, the price of the trip can be negotiated up. As in the case of products sold on websites like e-bay and amazon, registered commuters can be ranked by their piers in terms of their goodness as ride givers, hitch-hikers, and traveling companions in general. Commuter ratings can be taken into account when negotiating a trip price.

Incentives for Participating Agents

For any system to function, there needs to be one or more incentives for all necessary agents to participate. The necessary agents in this system are the 1) hitch hikers, 2) ride givers, 3) bing maps, and 4) the community in general.

1) Incentives for commuters
As mentioned before, a commute is often an expensive proposition: expensive in terms of money when using one's own car or using a taxi, expensive in terms of time when riding a bus or walking. In many cities, metro rail often has limited range. A hitched-ride can offer a cheaper and faster alternative. The ride-share marketplace can offer a more high-tech and dignified alternative to standing on the side of the road and sticking your thumb out like a hobo or pulling up your skirt like a ****, or behaving like a lunatic in general.

2) Incentives for ride givers
The first and obvious incentive is the added income of offering a ride. In addition, many states in the U.S. often have H.O.V. lanes. Despite the looks of envy by countless drivers at those smug gloating jerks cruising down the H.O.V. Lanes in peak traffic, most mere mortal drivers can't use those lanes. Most drivers don't know people who need to get to the same place and exactly at the time as when they themselves need to get there. Picking up a reliable hitch-hiker can help alleviate that problem. Also, if taxi drivers participate in this system along with customers, you can potentially have more people using taxis for trips that would not have been financially possible before. Lastly, public transit authorities can potentially tap into the system, estimate demand for particular routes, increase or decrease the density of buses and trains on given routes, and maybe even dynamically change the fare. Ride-share market place can also potentially increase use of services like zipcar.

3) Incentives for Yahoo
Yahoo is a commercial enterprise whose goal is to generate revenue. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people don't like paying for soft intangible services like the ones provided on the Internet. The best place to make money for such a service is from people who can make money by using a service. A service like ride-share market place can generate revenue through targeted advertising. When people use map-related services like bing maps or google maps, they use them for many reasons; the searched locations are not necessarily starting locations or destinations. However, with ride-share market place, the source, destination, and trip times of the advertising targets are necessarily known. Furthermore, ride-givers that charge money for providing rides can be charged a fixed fee or a percentage on their income similar to e-bay and amazon. Lastly, when commercial businesses such as transit companies, taxi companies, car-share companies, or car rentals attempt to tap into this service, such businesses can be charged separately.

Final words

Car pooling means fewer cars on the road, less congestion, lower emissions, and lower gas prices due to lower demand for gas. Furthermore, the ride-share market place offers greater choice for commuters and greater freedoms. When people are able to move about more freely, it can lead to greater economic activity.

Adaptive, dynamic provisioning of capacity based on demand is usually a lot more efficient than static over provisioning or under provisioning. This is a known fact in the design of data centers. This is the underlying principle that is driving the smart-grid idea. This idea should be adopted for public transit as well.