Difference between revisions of "User:Lawrenceonboard"
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==About== | ==About== | ||
| − | '''Lawrence OnBoard''' was a grass-roots transportation project started in 2013, in [[ | + | '''Lawrence OnBoard''' was a grass-roots transportation project started in 2013, in [[Lawrence]], Kansas by Jenny O'Brien. O'Brien, who lives in a rural area with no access to public transportation, began exploring hitchhiking as a mode of travel to commute to work after hearing a ''Freakonomics'' [http://freakonomics.com/2012/03/29/the-power-of-the-president-and-the-thumb-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/ podcast] about it. After experiencing very successful initial trips, O'Brien embarked on a research project to see if other riders would have the same success. The [http://lawrenceonboard.org Lawrence OnBoard] volunteer riders used a distinctive, branded folding dry erase board to signal their destination, took trips with random drivers from pre-determined locations, and collected extensive data points on all aspects of the experience. Initial field tests showed promising results, such as an average wait time of seven minutes. O'Brien co-authored the [http://trid.trb.org/view/2014/C/1289777 paper] ''Community Rideshare for a Small City: Preliminary Results for the Lawrence OnBoard Prototype Program'' which was selected for presentation and publication in the Transportation Research Board Record. In August of 2014, O'Brien presented a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lUheyqMxJ0 TED talk] about the project at the TEDxKC event. |
==CarmaHop== | ==CarmaHop== | ||
Latest revision as of 21:12, 26 January 2015
About
Lawrence OnBoard was a grass-roots transportation project started in 2013, in Lawrence, Kansas by Jenny O'Brien. O'Brien, who lives in a rural area with no access to public transportation, began exploring hitchhiking as a mode of travel to commute to work after hearing a Freakonomics podcast about it. After experiencing very successful initial trips, O'Brien embarked on a research project to see if other riders would have the same success. The Lawrence OnBoard volunteer riders used a distinctive, branded folding dry erase board to signal their destination, took trips with random drivers from pre-determined locations, and collected extensive data points on all aspects of the experience. Initial field tests showed promising results, such as an average wait time of seven minutes. O'Brien co-authored the paper Community Rideshare for a Small City: Preliminary Results for the Lawrence OnBoard Prototype Program which was selected for presentation and publication in the Transportation Research Board Record. In August of 2014, O'Brien presented a TED talk about the project at the TEDxKC event.
CarmaHop
In May of 2014, O'Brien teamed up with Carma Carpooling to build a smartphone app for the project. The app, called CarmaHop features a map of good locations to get rides in and around the Lawrence area, a recording tool that shows where the ride begins and ends, and the option to record the driver's phone number. Drivers who give a phone number are entered in a prize drawing for a $20 gas card. The official CarmaHop pilot was launched in October of 2014, after the Lawrence city commission exempted CarmaHop from a traffic ordinance prohibiting hitchhiking. At the time of writing, CarmaHop is an experimental pilot project. There is no payment between riders and drivers and no charge for riders to use the system. Prizes for the drivers are provided by Carma
Expansion
As of January, 2015, CarmaHop is seeking input from any person who has taken a ride in a car with a stranger. This description does not include taxi or ride sourcing apps like Uber, but does include long and short distance hitchhiking, slugging and casual carpooling, hacking, Trempenada, and hitchhiking necessitated by outdoor sports like backpacking and kayaking. CarmaHop's goal is to build "An App for Riding in Cars With Strangers"--a multi-purpose tool that will make the experience safer, easier and more reliable.
