RideshareOnline.com New tools to help save money, time and the environment while

helping people live more independently!

Prepared for:2010 Public Transportation Conference

September 22, 2010

What is RideshareOnline.com?

• A comprehensive tool to help jurisdictions, employers and local programs promote and facilitate alternative transportation options.

• A tool to help users keep informed about transportation options, locate people with similar travel patterns for the purpose of finding potential travel partners to share the ride, or access commute services.

Goals

• Expand travel options:– for personal and long distance trips– for seniors and low income people with limited travel options– for people with special needs including limited mobility– in rural areas – in areas where traffic is choking growth for local businesses– in areas underserved by fixed route systems– for community based programs

• Decrease traffic congestion

• Mitigate highway construction impacts• Support climate change initiatives

Ridematching in the Northwest• 1994 – Ridesharing handled via computer system.

• 2001 - RideshareOnline.com introduced, offering online access to commuters seeking ridematch partners via the Internet.

• 2002 - CarpoolMatchNW.org begins, offering online ridematching services for the Portland, Vancouver area.

• 2008 – Idaho joins RideshareOnline.com community.

• 2008 – 2009 - Washington State Department of Transportation in partnership with King County Metro seeks bids and contracts with iCarpool to develop new RideshareOnline.com application.

• March 2010 - New RideshareOnline.com is launched, providing expanded ridematch services as well as new communication, tracking and incentive tools for users and partners managing transportation programs.

• Spring/Summer 2010 – Pilot projects and network recruitment begin in Washington and Idaho.

• Fall 2010 – Oregon will join the RideshareOnline.com community, providing a single database for the tri-state area.

People in Washington lead the nation in reducing how often they drive alone

• More than 50 percent of downtown Seattle commuters regularly choose to ride a bus, train or bicycle; carpool, vanpool or walk; work from home or compress their work week.

• More than 30 percent of Puget Sound region commuters do the same.

• Over 28,000 vehicles removed from our roadways every weekday morning via the statewide Commute Trip Reduction Program.

How can your customers use RideshareOnline.com?

• Access to tools for:– Carpool and vanpool ridematching– Information about telework, bus, train, bicycle, etc.– Event management– Calendaring and personal results tracking– Reward management– Commute services such as emergency ride home– Managing personal information

• Automatic assignment to groups (networks) providing transportation information and services through RideshareOnline.com.

How does

RideshareOnline.com

work?

Network assignment: - RideshareOnline.com automatically assigns users to state, local jurisdictions and employer networks that coordinate and promote transportation services through the system.

- Users have the ability to join additional networks to access information and services provided exclusively by that network.

Communications: - Users have access to messages and content generated by a group tailored exclusively to their network members.

Ridematching: - RideshareOnline.com provides a ridematching tool to help users find a carpool, vanpool or bike buddy for commute, work related or personal trips.

- The user configures the event in the system including trip type, frequency and mode.

Ridematching for private events: - Users can use the tool to coordinate ridematching for private events and promote the event to participants external to the system.

- The user configures the event in the system including event name, location and schedule and provides instructions to invitees via email or other communications tool.

Ridematching for private events (con’t): - Only users invited and who accept the invitation can view the event and coordinate ridesharing through the system by adding a trip to the event.

Ridematching: - A user finalizes a trip request by adding a trip and providing route information, trip time and mode preferences. For events, the event address is pre-populated.

- Network coordinators can access user account to assist with ridematching, if needed.

Ridematching: Configurable option allows the user to control who sees their trip request: everyone, network members, or no one.

Ridematching – Find Match: - Users can find ridematch partners anywhere along their route, or in areas that offer Google Trip planner access, a bus planning tool to find available bus options.

- Users can make contact directly using contact information provided (if available) or send a ridematch request through the system.

- By default, accounts are set to private and user’s full name, phone number and email are NOT displayed.

Origin

Destination

Calendaring: - Users have the option to log and track trips in a calendar to earn rewards, receive subsidies (if provided by their employer) and track personal statistics.

- User selects a mode, confirms trip details and clicks on the calendar date cell to log the trip.

Rewards: - User can track their progress towards an incentive request available incentives or prize drawings rewards offered by their networks based on trips logged in the calendar or some other criteria.

Statistics: RideshareOnline.com users can log trips in the calendar and track monetary and fuel savings, vehicle miles not driven, and reduced green house gas emitted.

2010 highlights

• Over 150,000 non-SOV trips recorded• Over 2.5 million non-SOV miles recorded• Increase in volume of active users after

transition = 55%• 18,000+ registered users

Future of RideshareOnline.com • Support for geographically based and program networks• Improved branding capabilities• Mobile phone integration such as iPhone and Android• Widgets to empower external sites with RSO capabilities• Social networking capabilities such as Facebook and

Twitter• Expanded calendaring, vanpool, incentive and audit

functionality• Enhanced user interface and customizable personal

results• Enhanced communication and marketing tools• Enhanced schoolpool functionality• Development of module for organizations providing

special needs transportation services

Discussion and questions

New Websites

• http://www.rideshareonline.com – general communications website. This is the site that is generically promoted and includes a login to navigate to the application.

• http://my.rideshareonline.com – application. Navigation links included in the header and footer to navigate back to website.

WSDOT’s vision for RideshareOnline.com

• Provide more transportation options.

• Empower people who are engaged in trip reduction programs and projects. Support their success.

• Get data that can support decision-making at all levels: personal, program/project, policy.