Imagine having all the benefits of car ownership without the drawbacks. No more worrying about maintenance costs, depreciation, parking, insurance. Drive Enjoy Arrive Repeat. Wouldn’t it be cool? Well it’s cool and possible. Today you can have the best of both worlds by becoming part of the ridesharing & carsharing community.
The ridesharing & carsharing community are two new growing phenomena that are utilizing collaborative consumption to revolutionise the transportation industry. Facilitated by technological advances like the GPS and smartphones, today the ridesharing and carsharing community has expanded to include millions of users around the world. Its only offset – it’s so innovative that its legal standing is still dubious.
Having said this, today we’ll bring before you what we have identified to be the future industry leaders. Buckle up and enjoy some of our favorite ridesharing apps!
Launched in 2011, Getaround is a peer-to-peer carsharing service that allows users to rent cars from private owners on demand. In exchange owners get a paycheck at the end of each month. What does this mean?
Let’s say you are in downtown L.A. and want to travel to the suburbs and back, making a few stops on the way. Well you click the app, look for available cars nearby and send a request to rent an idle car. The car owner will then accept or reject the request. If accepted, enjoy the key-less Getaround technology.
With the swipe of a finger the car is ready for use. No keys, no leaving your office to meet the renter, simple and effective. Not bad right? Sitting at home whilst the car goes out to bring food for the family. Despite the brilliance of the idea, you might be thinking, why would someone risk renting their car? What if someone crashes or runs away with it?
Getaround has already thought about this. It offers a user rating system, a comprehensive insurance policy and a screening system that ensures maximum trust between all those involved.
Where can you find this service? Currently Getaround is only available in certain cities in the U.S. though as ridesharing industry becomes more important we can expect law changes and the internationalization of the service.
Launched in 2008 by Daimler AG, Car2go caters your car renting needs to the dot. You want a car for a few minutes? They offer it. You are considering renting a car for an hour or a day? Done. Just check the Car2go app for the closest car and get ready to drive their mesmerizing Smartfor2 environmentally friendly cars. Once you are done with the experience just park the car in a designated parking spot and continue. No more parking headaches or visits to the mechanic.
Where can you find this service? Unlike GetAround, car2go is legislation friendly and therefore has been able to go transnational much quicker. Car2go is currently operational in most major cities in Europe and North America and is looking towards expanding their presence and fleet.
Created in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer, Lyft is a company that provides peer-to-peer ridesharing. What is this? It’s like the “for the people by the people” taxi service. Let’s say you want to go from the city centre to the suburbs. You check the app and input your route, city centre to suburbs. If there is someone else who is taking that route with a free seat, you call for a Lyft and voila, you’ve got a ride. What is unique about Lyft is the sense of community it’s creating. Users rate the experience. How was the driver? How was the passenger? Based on the rating, Lyft is able to match drivers and passengers not only according to location but also according to preferences.
Where can you find this service? Lyft is currently operating in 65 U.S. cities and plans to expand its operations both domestically and internationally. It’s a soon to come!
To finalize our ridesharing showcase, check the current industry leader UBER. Will Car2go, Lyft or Getaround eat their market share? Who will be on top of this new and growing industry?
