Mass Transit via Social Networking

[Martin Hash]

Most of the people who work have cellphones – high end cellphones with GPS and the ability to run applications, like the iPhone, Droid, and lots of others. Assuming people who work drive to work, and the person driving has their “Ride Share” app running, if someone needed a ride they would enter their destination on their phone and make themselves visible. The rider’s location would pop up the driver’s phone (only people with the same general destination would show up), and the driver would acknowledge and stop to pick up the rider. The “Ride Share” app could also be used to preplan a trip – a potential driver/rider would enter where they wanted to go and someone with similar plans would arrange a time. Ta-da.

Drivers who offer to give you a lift are probably protected by “Good Samaritan” laws, so liability is not a problem, there could be the standard "trust rating" mechanism, and it’s purely voluntary. After a while the travelers would know each other well, leading to more synchronization and efficiency. Yes, this is only a partial solution to a vexing problem… One step at a time, please.