High Speed Car Sharing In America?
by CHICKMELIONfreelance
Car sharing is not a new concept to North America, although it has not taken the continent by storm quite yet, it is a part of mainstream Europe and touted as a viable means of driving without owning a car. In it’s simplest form, it can be described as "an affordable and viable means of providing cars" parked off-street throughout a number of US and Canadian cities available for use by members for any length of time on a timeshare basis.
This concept is especially beneficial if you live in an urban center and drive less than 12,000 km (7,500 miles) a year. This rapidly growing trend could save anyone who fits well into this segment literally thousands of dollars a year, give them greater mobility and help reduce air quality.
Still in it’s infancy companies like Flexcar and Zip car tout their benefits as being easy as hailing a cab, convenient, affordable (some starting at as low as $8.30 an hour CDN) and faster than renting a car. Patrons reserve the vehicle - by phone, smartphone or Internet, 24-hours-a-day - what ever suits their needs, and then use it for a few hours, or a week. They can pay per trip, and never have to worry about repairs, insurance or monthly parking again.
Another twist that has comfortably made a home in Europe is online car sharing portals. Coupling drivers looking to mitigate their transportation costs and passengers looking to hitch affordable rides. Where even passengers without drivers licenses are being well served Although there is a bit of grumbling about commuters having to register routes in advance, the industry does offer diversified services in recent years such as platforms that cater to women, or even pets. These portals were incorporated to answer a consumer demand that was frustrated with rising fuel , train, taxi, and bus prices; coupled with long waits, long commutes, and occasional strikes. All these frustrations help to boost the popularity of getting around via car sharing.
Yet a communications research group in Berlin plans to take this concept yet another step further servicing customer demand by answering loopholes in the car sharing portal system. They plan to introduce a new application coined as ‘OpenRide.” It answers the need for providing passengers and drivers with a match in a moments notice. Up to this point current platforms can not accommodate connecting interested parties for quick ride shares in every day local traffic. But “Open Rides” developers, Fraunhofer FOKUS who are a research facility devoted to communication and information technologies, are postured to introduce an application that will do just that on 2010.
It is designed to be versatile and easy to use. Patrons simply enter their destinations on their phones or PDA; A server tracks current vehicular locations and scans for ride requests for a match, then notifies the parties via mobile phone. The driver and passenger negotiate a fare for the journey, most typically covering fuel costs. The software’s intelligent search engines can also factor in trip segments, as well as small detours if needed. In the future the Group intends to also incorporate a driver rating function and user histories to create an extra layer of security for users.
It will be interesting to see what will develop from this new diversification of car sharing. A prototype of “OpenRide” was unveiled in Berlin at one of the largest trade fairs for consumer electronics in the world. Indeed many curious brows are raised , anticipating the next press release detailing how it’s practice run faired, which is scheduled for late 2009. It leaves me to wonder which provider, or application developer here in North America is also eying the European advances in coupling mobile technology with greener affordable transportation alternatives. It does offer mobile telephone manufacturers new ways of expanding their services, and the software seems to be also integrated into a navigation system.
This may be something well worth keeping an eye on as a viable emerging trend for North America , who is as everyone else on grappling with the instability of fuel costs and global warning concerns.
