Would a mobile app to help hitchhikers be worth the effort/money?

L

live4themusic

New member
I'm planning a service I want to start kind of like Couchsurfing. I'm a computer science major, couchsurfer, and free spirit myself and want to do something that will A) help reduce the amount of gas required for people to travel by filling as many seats as possible B) safely help people needing rides find people willing to give rides (whether the people offering rides are wanting gas money could be something they set up in preferences) and C) help people meet other interesting people to have good conversation with (kind of like Couchsurfing in that respect too)

Obviously there are TONS of details to iron out but here are some of my thoughts. The service would be free and donation-supported, and would be helpful for people with transportation looking for travelling buddies, as well as people who need rides. Hitchhikers/rideseekers could probably arrange rides days in advance if travellers post their planned travel in advance I guess (it would work like a rideshare website in that respect), and there would be a reference system for people to leave their thoughts on their interactions with each other for other ridesharers to make decisions on who to ride with based on (i.e. whether the person they are looking at is trustworthy). Additionally, the iphone/android app I am planning would keep users logged into their accounts and if it detects the user has been driving for more than 30 minutes (or whatever they set their preference to if they are willing to offer rides) prompt them to see if they are willing to pick up passengers and what their destination is.

I am also thinking hitchhikers could use the iphone app to see a map of people who also have the app and are travelling through their area to decide if they want to contact them. But I'm wondering if supporting that is even worth it, or is it unrealistic to think people who are hitchhiking might have phones that were capable of supporting those applications (my friends who hitchhike don't have web-capable phones).

Also, the ability to receive formatted text messages from people needing rides using registered phone numbers (such as "seeking Nashville, TN to Asheville, NC (via I-40)") would probably be useful but responding with messages providing confirmation and results of people who might be able to give them rides near them would require overhead in the number of text messages we would be sending I would think. Maybe make it known that users sending us a text requiring a response will be charged 20c per text or something added to their bill?

I would appreciate any thoughts and advice, especially pertaining to the feasibility of developing the mobile app to also support hitchhikers (obviously the service would but I mean the side of the app that would run on web-capable phones).
 
I think this is a great idea; I don't know how it would really play out, how feasible it would be. For example, anybody who lists as willing to pickup riders without receiving payment is going to be swamped with requests, I imagine. Part of hitchhiking is that there's the deterrent risk to many because you don't know who your driver will be, and the anonymity allows some kind of generosity on the driver's part, and lack of contribution on the hitcher's part.
If roles were reversed and I was driving, I would pickup hitchhikers, but I would want some kind of contribution if I was continually picking up the same dude because he knows I have a consistent drive along a route, and he takes advantage (I mean that negatively) of my generosity in having that regular drive.

Having said that - and I should say that I am without a smartphone, at this time - I would like to develop a map of good hitching spots (Gold Star icon) and any info about bus routes that pickup/deliver to or near these. Such a map would also mark out spots that get little traffic or invite police harassment (Skull & Cross Bones), or have no good roadside shoulder space for vehicles to stop. Places that have not been rated could be left with a question mark. The more hitchhikers use these spots, the more the people getting on and off at these on-ramps will become accustomed to hitchhikers, and gradually (I believe, I hope), become willing to give a lift.

I suppose a reviewing system could be integrated; with the driver using the app, a pic of the hitcher could be taken and a review written. How would a driver check this when considering whether or not to pickup somebody HH'ing? Search a photo database? And what's to prevent someone writing a malicious review because he didn't get a BJ or get paid for the lift?
 
I think this is a great idea, it just might take a few more years to take off. I can remember when I first started traveling you almost never saw travelers with cell phones, now it seems to be the norm. Now with netbooks and other cheap laptops hitting the market you're seeing more and more traveler kids with computers (myself included). The next logical step is web-phones. Also I mainly associate with tour kids and train riders, who tend to be the brokest of the traveling community. I'm sure there's plenty of people who've accessed this site from an iphone while trying to hitch a ride.
 
I hope someone is watching. It might work really well with GPS and waypoints checkout adventurecycling.org they have a system setup that allows you to travel with their maps or download the way points
 
i use an app called beat the traffic which in essence is what you are talking about just with a different focus. it allows for central up-dating and user submitted information all on a google maps based platform which when coupled with gps or even 3g approximation tells you where in the mix you are.
 
Cool Idea !!! I would definitely donate occasionally as I am a frequent DRIVER as well as HITCHHIKER. If you're a computer science major, then get the details ironed out fast and get this thing up and running !!!
 
Sounds like an awesome idea, and I think it would be worth the effort, a couple days ago I was looking for an app just like this... found nothing. Go for it!
 
Could also leave the whole thing open source, that way if you dont feel like taking the time to develop the app, for sure someone else out there would.
 
Don't forget Blackberry's !!
Sounds like a good idea, infact I'm going to check but i think BB has an app already out that does something very similar to waht you are describing...
 
I had this idea before though, mainly marketed at truckers, who do not pay their gas, and often have steady routes. I'm not really a programmer though, nor do I care enough to organize someone else to make the scripts... but please feel free to steal this idea, anyone who might be motivated...
 
hah, on closer inspection...
This is the only message from this person, and they havent been on for over a year...
anyone else out there interested in writing scripts?
 
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