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).
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).
