On-Line Real-Time Ridesharing

We have all experienced the frustration of "sitting" in traffic on the roads and highways of our nation. It seems that regardless how much effort is put into increasing the capacity of the road systems or increasing the availability of mass transportation, the situation around cities of all sizes continues to worsen. Berkeley Engineering is developing an idea that could greatly increase the capacity of the nations highways without adding costly pavement. The idea is an On-Line Real-Time Ridesharing System. The system would work like this: A non-driving traveler would inform a central computer system of their current location and intended destination. In real time the computer system would examine the destinations of on-line drivers in the upstream area, determine the optimum ride sharing arrangement, and route the driver and the rider to a near term rendezvous.

This is an idea whose time has come. Real-time ridesharing is already taking place on the most elemental level across the Bay Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, around Washington D.C., and now in Houston, Tx where people form "slug" lines and drivers come and pick them up so that they can use High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. This system would be the next step. It would be as fast and easy for the users as making a phone call, walking out to a meeting point and getting in a car. It would be far more flexible and convenient than conventional nodal forms of mass transportation. The driver and rider could feel safe in knowing that each of them is known by the system and each could set their own personal criteria to screen who they would be willing to ride with.

On a technical level the system could be developed utilizing many existing technologies. A majority of Americans already carry cell phones, a key component of the system. Automatic Traffic Information Systems are in existence and could serve as the backbone off of which this would work. Database management is a field that is mature. The biggest hurdles are putting them all together into a working system and convincing the public that they no longer need to lug around a ton and a half sheet metal box where ever they go - they can simply Traffic Surf.

The benefits of the system far excede simply providing a few easy rides. By reducing the number of vehicles on the roads the environmental impact of that engine carrying a single person is eliminated. It also reduces the impact of the other vehicles since they can move more quickly since the congestion is greatly reduced. This system could also serve as a very economical, psuedo-public transportation system, which could have tremendous benefits to smaller cities and rural areas where operating more traditional bus or rail lines is economically unfeasible.

To read more about this idea, see a paper we have recently sent out to policy makers and industry leaders. This idea has also been explored by some agencies and academic institutions - bibliography of related works.