My absolute favorite magazine is Fast Company.  I consistently find inspiration every month in one or more articles.  In their current issue, there is good story about the increasing use of reviews and ratings online.  They detail how everyone on the internet knows when you are a dog.

You can see the spread of reviews and ratings from Amazon and eBay to Target and Office Depot. There are also a growing number of opinion-based sites, such as:

• Yelp – Real People, Real Reviews
• TripAdvisor – get the truth, then go
• City Search – Live like an insider
• Urbanspoon - reviews from critics, food bloggers and friends
• Zagat – Eat, Drink, Stay, Play
• Angie’s List – Looking for the best service?

When I am looking for a book, the first thing I do is go to Amazon and read the reviews and ratings.  I find them incredibly helpful and they lead me to a good purchasing decision.

Most of these opinion-based sites are for travel and dining, but Angie’s List is interesting since they rate and review contractors, service companies and health care providers.  Good service will yield high ratings, while poor service will result in a tarnished reputation.

I think similar ratings of drivers and riders would remove some of the uncertainty.  Can you give me any more examples of reviews and ratings that you find helpful?

photo credit: joeltelling

We have all seen the crazy ads for Priceline with William Shatner.  I like the idea of a negotiated price based on many different variables.  On Priceline, you pay more for a 4 star hotel than you do for a 2 star hotel or a luxury car over a compact.  With airfare there are many variables including direct flight or stopover, city of origin, destination, travel dates, time of day and many others.

I would like to apply the same idea to Pay4Rides.  The price you pay for any ride could be based on many factors:

• Arrange the ride in advance or impromptu
• Repeat rider
• Date & Time
• Distance being traveled
• Door to door service or convenient pick-up and drop off locations
• Driver’s rating
• Passenger’s rating
• One or multiple passengers
• Number of miles being traveled
• Quality of the vehicle
• Extras (DVD player, bike rack, etc.)
• Weather conditions
• Tolls
• Parking

If we could schedule rides, then you could make arrangements in advance and agree on a price.  Riders could also post ride requests and open them up to a bidding process like eBay.

Drivers and riders could build up a list of “friends” that could be easily reached with text messaging.  I think with the incredible power of the internet and the wide use of cell phones, we have all the necessary communication tools.  Now we just need to fully utilize our technology to improve daily commutes.

Determine price based on the quality of the driver and the ride

Pricing for any ride could be based on a sliding scale involving many factors.  The quality of the ride, distance and time of day could all factor into the price.

The quality of the ride would be determined by both the type of car and the drivers’ current rating.  For example, I would pay more per mile to ride in a Lexus with a highly rated driver than I would for an older car with a poorly rated driver.  This would create a free market where someone who can only afford 10 cents a mile would accept a lower quality ride and someone willing to pay more would expect a higher standard.

A shorter ride may also have a built-in fee to cover the drivers’ basic cost while a longer rider could offer a much better price per mile.  I would expect to pay less per mile when accepting a ride from New York to Washington DC then I would pay for a short 10 mile trip.

One other cost not to be overlooked is parking.  By leaving your car home and accepting a ride, you would avoid all parking charges.  Think of the savings the next time you are headed to the city, an airport or sporting event.

photo credit: hans s

Remember when you made that first eBay purchase?  The uncertainty of the seller and if they would really send the correct product.  Then you make a few more purchases and realized that the sellers are all rated and actually stand behind the products they are offering.  Gradually you grow more comfortable with the individual sellers and learn to trust their online reputations.

There is a very interesting idea attributed to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar in the story of eBay:

He quite simply believes that the human race is basically good. At the beginning, many prophesied that it could not work – complete strangers dealing with complete strangers. But it is now obvious that it does.

I believe the same can be true with Pay4Rides.

photo credit: Ryan Fanshaw Photography

Does the idea of accepting a ride from a stranger scare you?  If no, then Pay4Rides is for you.

If yes, then how do you feel about taxis?  Isn’t this the same thing?  Or does the fact that the driver has a cab license ease you concerns?  Then to make Pay4Rides a more acceptable way of ride sharing, we need to license both drivers and rides.  Peer ratings would help eliminate much of the uncertainty when dealing with “strangers”.
photo credit: dionhinchcliffe