April 20, 2010
Contact: Steve Hansen (ITS America) (202) 721-4239 office or (202) 669-3275 cell
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ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight

A National Environmental Problem . . .

Traffic congestion in the United States wastes 2.8 billion gallons of gas and significantly increases CO2 emissions each year. Sixty percent of transportation emissions are created by cars and light trucks. Yet, 75 percent of commuters drive alone.

A Smart Solution . . . Avego's Shared Transport:

By incentivizing drivers to pick-up passengers along their route, Avego's free smart phone application can potentially turn millions of empty car seats into a new and sustainable transportation system.

"This concept of providing real-time on-demand commuting services could play a major role in increasing interest and participation in carpooling. The use of intelligent transportation technology will help create a new, on demand transportation system using wasted seat capacity in cars that are already on the road. If successful, this could result in significant improvements in traffic efficiency and the environment."
- Scott Belcher, President and CEO of ITS America

Washington, D.C. - The Avego Shared Transport program was presented an ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight award today for its innovative new program that will use an iPhone app to match drivers with potential riders using real-time information. Drivers are alerted to real-time requests and riders are notified of the exact pick-up time by SMS or email.

As the leading voice for the use of smart technology to address our nation's transportation challenges, the ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight award highlights the best and most innovative use of intelligent transportation systems to address national and regional transportation challenges.

What's the problem?
Congestion costs the United States $87 billion each year and wastes an astounding 2.8 billion gallons of gas. It also causes more than 3.7 billion hours in travel delays.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the use of cars by only one person has increased since 1980. In 2008, 76 percent of drivers were in single occupancy vehicles (SOV) compared to 64 percent in 1980.

In addition, SOVs produce 75 percent of all transportation emissions.

How Does Avego Shared Transport Address The Problem?
While most people understand the benefits and efficiency of carpooling, it is typically not flexible or convenient enough to meet the demands and busy lives of today's commuters. Avego Shared Transport uses ITS technology to make carpooling more flexible, reliable and convenient.

Avego Shared Transport uses the latest in location and communication technology to provide a marketplace for drivers to offer their empty seats to other people in real time. This on-demand, real-time ridesharing system, which is now available as a free iPhone application, incentivizes drivers to run their car as a bus, saving money by accepting ride requests from riders along their route.

The system automatically charges riders $1 per pick-up, plus $0.20 per mile and manages the micropayment transaction at the end of the journey. Commuters are also provided with reliable real-time passenger information by SMS or e-mail, so they know exactly when their ride will arrive, as well as automated security features and accurate commute reporting.

By allowing commuters to broker rides, Avego Shared Transport incentivizes drivers to share their empty seats with riders-helping to defray the costs of their daily commutes.

How Does It Work?
With three empty seats in most cars, Avego Shared Transport creates a "value" for those seats to both the drivers and people who need rides. The premise is to use market forces to harness consumer needs by having private cars run as buses, picking up riders along their route. This approach builds upon the bottom-up phenomenon of "slugging" or "casual carpooling" in cities such as San Francisco and Washington DC. There, cars pull over at dedicated points to pick-up riders so as to be eligible for travel on less busy high-occupancy vehicle lanes. However, this is limited to just a few routes in a few cities.

Avego makes this concept possible for people on any road, with users populating the network with new stops at convenient locations along their routes. Using the iPhone application, drivers are alerted to ride requests from people along their route who have booked a ride online. If a driver accepts, they will be prompted to pull over as they approach the pick-up point. Riders receive real-time passenger information, so they know exactly when the car will arrive. The driver authenticates the rider's identity by entering their one-time auto-generated PIN and then drives the rider to their destination along the route. The system charges the rider a per-mile default rate and manages the payment transaction to the driver's account. Both people are prompted to rate each other at the end of the journey.

Benefits
The associated benefits include reduced C02 emissions, reduced traffic congestion, reduced demand for parking spaces and an expansion of affordable commuting options that reach areas underserved by transit. (To view a video of the Avego Shared Transport go here)

Avego says it will also have rider and driver safety feature that will include:

• A self-policing user rating system (one to five stars)
• Details and photos of the rider/driver matches
• Filtered matches (gender, non-smokers, etc.)
• Audio prompting so drivers never have to interact with the app while driving.

For additional information about this project contact:

• Jason Conley (202) 318-0108 email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.avego.com
  
  

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America represents more than 400 member organizations including public agencies, private corporations, and academic institutions involved in the research, development, and deployment of technologies that improve safety, increase mobility, strengthen the economy, and sustain the environment.