Avego Driver

From Avego:

With Avego Driver, you can turn your car into a bus! Avego will offer your empty seats to other people along your route in real time and share the cost of the journey between you and each rider, saving everyone time and money.HOW DOES IT WORK?Avego enables drivers and riders to form carpools in real-time by matching the drivers commute journey with where riders are looking to travel.The app guides the driver to pick-up and drop-off passengers with audio instructions, which makes this real-time ridesharing system work extremely smoothly along actively travelled Avego transport corridors.A combination of automated security features, real-time passenger information, and electronic micro-payments allows riders and drivers to easily share the cost of a journey.WHERE CAN I USE AVEGO?Avego's commuter transportation network has achieved enough volume in several metropolitan areas across the world to provide reliable services at certain parts of the day along certain commute corridors. In areas where a critical mass has not yet been achieved, Avego can be used by riders and drivers to see the future of transport! Download the app, set up a few routes and you'll start receiving notifications about when riders and drivers are available along the routes you travel, as new people in your area join up to the service.FEATURES:-On-demand real-time ride matching-Electronic micropayment transaction management at the end of the journey based on the distance traveled-Real-time passenger information, so the rider is informed just before the driver approaches the pick-up point-Comprehensive safety features, including: ride match filtering; PIN authentication of riders; registered users only; and a self-policing, self-correcting user rating system-Anyone can book a ride online or any web-enabled phone-Audio notifications for drivers, so drivers never have to interact with the app while driving-Simulated (ghost) riders, so drivers can try out the system before picking-up and dropping-off real people-User created stops and routes, so the network expands organically throughout a region-Accurate reporting of C02 savings, distance traveled, journey history, etc.-Time-to-arrival information for each stop along a drivers route-Push notifications PRAISE FOR AVEGO:***ITS America Smart Solutions Spotlight Award (April 2010) ***Soon you may no longer need to stick out your thumb to catch a ride. Instead, you may get one by tapping your fingers on your iPhone.The most promising app I saw is the carpooling app Avego which is described as a "cross between carpooling, public transit, and eBay," with a user reputation/feedback mechanism included; it also would include a payment functioni.e., a way to help out with gas moneywhich, as one rideshare expert put it to me, "is always awkward in person. (Slate.com) This is a great way to reduce commuting expenses. It should resonate with anyone looking to help the environment and save money in the process. (KillerStartups.com)This service is perfect for a time of high gas prices, environmental concerns and poor public transit options. Not only does the system promise to make carpooling easier, it also gives drivers a financial incentive to pick up passengers because riders pay drivers a per-mile fee to defray gas costs. (The San Jose Mercury News)Here's another one for Stacy's list of the top 10 mobile applications launching at Demo - but this one's greener than the rest... (GigaOM)Its a new way of thinking about commuting, offering more efficient transit options, lowered gas costs and environmental benefits. (Chris Shipley, Executive Producer of the DEMO conferences) The Avego system is an ingenious approach of shared transit enabling private individuals to become part of the transport solution to rising fuel prices and coming fuel shortages. (Pat Murphy, executive director of Community Solutions)

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