
Scott Adams startup idea: solves the energy crisis, reduces global warming, and virtually eliminates drunk driving - andreyf
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/06/how_i_solved_th.html
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felipe
That was exactly what we tried a year ago (mobile-based ridesharing).

It did not work for us because:

1) Hard to get traction due to the classic chicken-and-egg problem: Ride
sharers do not sign-up due to the lack of riders, and riders do not sign-up
due to the lack of sharers.

2) People do not trust on anonymous riders. We hoped to solve this issue by
introducing a social network where we would prioritize the matches by degrees
of separation. But that didn't work due to #1

3) The large majority of the population enjoy their privacy in their own car
and do not have a motivation to share the ride (perhaps when gas prices get
higher)

4) For those who are motivated enough to share a ride, there are plenty of
options available out there: Craigslist, employer's bulletin board, in
additional to local authorities (ex: 511.org and casual car pooling in Bay
Area)

Seems like this one (web based, not mobile) got some traction:
<http://www.ridester.com/>

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staunch
In the best case scenario this service would become popular among a certain
subset of the country. It would never be as sweeping as he imagines, in the
US. My money is still on mass transit + bicycles as a good solution to the
problem of cars.

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Tichy
I was expecting robot taxis to do that one day. However, I was told that
people just love their cars too much and would never get rid of them. Maybe
they are right - and maybe people drive alone all the time because they like
to be alone?

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ph0rque
Sounds like a great facebook app.

