Getting from A to B

In todays “on demand service” driven economy, would it be possible to forego the need for car ownership?

In many cities and towns around the world there are many options to get from A to B. Some places have great public transport infrastructure, others do not.

For many places driving by car is still the most convenient and sometimes cheaper method. The problem is the current increase in congestion, commute time, costs, stress and even pollution as more cars enter the streets.

While travelling to work I noticed that most of my fellow drivers were by themselves and thought, “so many empty seats available…”.

I know car pooling is not a new thing, usually organised by those travelling to the same destination, but I thought about those travelling in the same general direction and wondered if there was an easy and simple way of allowing people to carpool.

Enter, uberPOOL and uberCOMMUTE both services have been launched and excited to see it started here in Australia.

uberPOOL is already running in San Francisco, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Austin and very soon Bangalore…and is designed for the person wanting to ‘hitch’ a ride via an uber but split the costs with others…

REQUEST uberPOOL – Enter your destination in the app.

GET MATCHED UP – During your trip, you can be matched with another rider traveling along a similar route.

SHARE AND SPLIT – Riding solo? Travel with a co-rider and save. Two or more people? Request a different Uber option please.

BE ON TIME – The first rider may already be in the car, so be ready to hop in when your Uber arrives. You’ll be dropped off in the most efficient order. Enjoy the ride!

Now for drivers such as myself, uber is launching a new service called uberCOMMUTE, designed for commuters to share the cost of travelling in their own car with others who want to ‘hitch’ a ride along the way.

uberCOMMUTE allows people who drive to work to use Uber’s technology to find commuters along their way, sharing the cost of their commute while helping to reduce congestion by taking cars off the road.

• Sign up to be an Uber commuter-driver in four easy steps.
• We’ll do our best to match you up with a commuter going in the same direction as you
• Navigating is painless – the Uber app provides turn-by-turn directions along the way
• Upon ending your commute, we’ll calculate the cost tolls and automatically charge your passengers
• You’ll also be reimbursed via direct deposit each week at a rate of $0.54 per mile driven with a commuter in your vehicle

For those that live in India and want to zip past the traffic, try Pilot – Bike Pooling. Pilot is a ride-sharing platform for two-wheelers. An intuitively simple solution to your vehicle-pooling troubles. Pilot lets commuters use it as often as it fits their schedule – no commitments. Get a cheap and convenient ride, and earn if you drive. The opportunity cost for two-wheeler owners to share their ride and reduce their commute cost is zero. Why not use the potential of the extra seat that is vacant most of the time?

Now this concept has plenty of potential. Let’s say you want to host an amazing party, want to meet up at a cool bar or simply organise a business meeting. To remove the excuse of, “I can’t get to the location”, which really means I couldn’t be bothered or it’s not a high priority for me. How about organising the pick up and covering the cost for your friend / colleague / prospect? Introducing Teleport, a simple tool / app that uses uber to pick them up at no cost to them. No more excuses… Yes I know you could pay for a taxi to pick them up but the user doesn’t get a cool map where they can drop a pin of their location and also show them where they are going or how long it will take. And for the organiser, you can see upfront based on the friends locations how much it will cost to ‘teleport’ them to you and how long it will take, so you might choose a different friend…

This brief post has not included the myriad of other ride-sharing and on on-demand transport solutions, so it is now your turn to add your thoughts, comments, recommendations or opinions in the comments below…