Whatever Happened to RideShare?

[luckytroll]

I remember a great company/organization that used to exist that would match up drivers going between cities with people looking for rides - I think the company would take a small fee and the person driving would negotiate a small compensation for a share of the gas. As I remember it, the whole thing got shut down under pressure from the Bus companies lobbying with the argument that because money was changing hands, the whole endeavour became a commercial enterprise, which put the people and their cars under a whole different legal category - which few passenger vehicles or licensed drivers can meet.

Seeing as it is provincial election time, and we have a renewed look at the environment - is there a rebirth of this service using more modern internet technology, and if not, can it be reborn with the help and support of our government?

I mean, really - people driving alone to Montreal/Toronto - it just aint right. 

Comments

[con-girl.livejournal.com]

Allostop was (and is) a QC based group that used to organize this. They were taken to court for violating the transportation act (I think it was that act) because they were operating a transportation service without a license by voyager (and possibly other bus companies) on the grounds that the car owners were somehow employees rather than people availing themselves of a service. Yes. I know. It was a terrible decision. I've read it and I have to wonder whether they had any legal representation at all. They could have appealed but couldn't afford it. So they stopped selling their services in Ottawa and in Hull (because it was too likely that people would pick up people in Hull and drive to Montreal on the 401). Very bad for the environment and bad for travellers without much money - bus fares jumped immediately afterwards.

[moria73.livejournal.com]

Building on what con-girl said, basically Greayhound and the other one or two big bus liones put AlloStop out of business. They kept filing complaints to the government until the government stepped in and shut them down. The big boys didn't like even a small chunk of their monopoly being taken away. I'm still furious about that. I've always thought students and low-income people should have filed a class-action lawsuit against the bus lines and the gov't over this.

[luckytroll.livejournal.com]

I have an idea forming in my head. (Imagine my tone of voice something akin to the midget in "Time Bandits" Being influenced by the evil Nemesis.

Security paranoia aside, which might be addressable by some kind of reference system akin to EBay, why couldnt people create a distributed internet-based system for ride-sharing? Hell, if properly designed, it could work almost for free - and might be able to use wireless messagint technology to let people coordinate things.

Moreover, if a system could be made well enough, it might be able to handle a level of dynamic routing that it could be a threat to Taxis as well as busses - very interesting indeed. I need to research this a bit more.

I always thought that it might make more sense one day to have a bus system that used computers and communications networks to dynamically route busses - instead of routing busses regularly - why not set up minor routes in a hub-spoke system that allows people to input their pickup-dropoff times and locations and allow a transportation medium to get them there.

Im sure theres a masters thesis in all this somewhere. And a lobby against it.

[moria73.livejournal.com]

It probably wouldn't be all that hard to build a website like that. One that allows drivers to register their trips and passengers to search available drivers. Charge a small $5-$10 per-year membership, both for drivers and passengers and it would cover hosting costs, domain registry etc and still probeably eventually turn a small profit. Being on the internet it would be a little harder for the authorities to pick off like they did with AlloStop.

Damn. Wish I was a web programmer... I'd do this.

[freefloat.livejournal.com]

Craigslist has a section called just that - Rideshare. Both Toronto and Ottawa (and presumably Montreal) have Craigslist sites, and people are posting rides needed/offering all the time. I know I see a LOT of offers on the Toronto site going to/from Montreal.

[freefloat.livejournal.com]

Url is typed wrong - should be http://craigslist.org