Daimler Uses Social Media to Hook Up Hitchhikers With a Ride
What can’t social media hook its wagon onto? Now, you can hitchhike using social media, thanks to the folks at Mercedes/ Smart parent company Daimler.
Ok, so it’s not hitchhiking in the literal sense – it’s carpooling (we just thought that hitchhiking sounded edgier) – and Daimler has put together a pilot carpooling project that mashes ride sharing with social media. Called Car2gether, this new service is an offshoot of Daimler’s car2go Smart-sharing program. The Car2gether service will, according to the company, show “how flexible and independent mobility can be achieved without car ownership.”
To get onboard with the program, users enter details about their upcoming journey using a smartphone or PC. Once all the info is inputted, the car2gether software makes a match. If a user wants to make a match themselves, the software automatically posts details of ride offers and requests on a microblogging site similar to Twitter.
In the start-up phase of the program, the software is free. Passengers using the service will have to pay for their ride, about 9.5 cents per minute to reimburse the driver for vehicle maintenance, gas, etc. Passengers will pay drivers in cash at first, but as the system progresses, Daimler will debut an automated, cashless payment program.
Car2gether starts on September 18 in the German city of Ulm, and if it gains popularity, it may expand to other cities.
[Source: Wired]
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