Dear Rodinhooders ,
Wanted to share with you about a recent endeavor of mine called AmigoRide,developed along with a friend who is also my partner in the venture. I am no entrepreneur (although I started a firm called Audacious Ventures ) , but I tried to act on my idea and now look forward to your suggestions and support to take this app further.
For the past year or so, I was consumed by an idea born out of my own frustration with daily commuting . Developed the idea into a concept in my mind , then did some research with my partner and we realized that solutions in this category exist but there was a gap between what the users wants and what others are delivering.
I am talking about Ridesharing or dynamic Car pooling here . The concept of carpooling has been around for a long time in an informal way and RideSharing has become possible for the last couple of years on Smartphones. Commuting is one task that every office goer in the world does everywhere , the traffic conditions during peak office hours are equally bad everywhere and it is only getting worse. Plus we all try to emphasize on being environment friendly, saving fuel and reducing carbon emissions. With these factors, one would imagine RideSharing apps to be on every commuter’s Smartphone but that’s’ not so yet !
In my analysis , we either have taxi-hiring apps posing as Ridesharing apps ( Sidecar, Lyft , Uber) or those which connect any to any or only to FB friends.
Along with my partner,I realized we could have a solution that appeals to everyday, regular commuter. So we launched AmigoRide . It is positioned as a free of charge , peer to peer ridesharing solution that uses a 2 ways acceptance process, unique use of multiple social profiles and accurate route matching to bring the vital element of trust into RideSharing.
Some unique features it offers are :
- Log in with both LinkedIn and Facebook profiles to increase the chances of getting more acceptable rides. Accurate ride matching algorithm used at the backend.
- Both parties need to accept each other before the ride is confirmed.
- Points 1 and 2 help to build in the element of trust and comfort into the RideSharing experience.
- Addition of LinkedIn contacts can make the RideSharing experience socially as well as professionally rewarding since it would mean time well spent in the company of people that you would want to know better professionally.
- The system also has the potential to seek traffic updates from users and share it with others who would be travelling on the same route , thus making these alerts very specific and useful.
- CO2 emissions saved and resultant Eco points earned are updated after every confirmed ride.
The app has been launched recently and we are starting with a wave of communications using our social networks. Based on the early adopters feedback and some ideas , we hope to soon launch a version 2 with enhancements ( simplification )and UI improvements. The app should be useful to all Android Smartphone users who are regular commuters and want to improve their travel experience.
So with this brief about AmigoRide ,what I seek from this forum is this :
- Please share any feedback or advise on the concept that you feel could help to make the app more relevant. ( we know the UI definitely needs work )
- Definitely download the AmigoRide app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amigoride.activities) and share your thoughts on Play Store.
- Visit us at www.amigoride.com or the AmigoRide community page on Facebook and share your feedback
- If you like the concept , feel free to propagate in your social community. A Ridesharing app is only as good as the number of matches available when you are searching for a ride or co-passengers.
Adding a few more details on the advice of Asha :
- The app works on Android Smartphones 2.3 onwards and does not have any city specific customization , so people across the world can use it while commuting.
- The intention of making a Native Android App was to provide the power of instant ridesharing to users with consistent UX.
- We tried to test the app for almost 3-4 months and across various cities like Mumbai, Auckland and Sydney. But no solution is ever perfect and we are eager to get your views .
- Btw , we already know the UI and the flow needs more improvement , we just need specific suggestions on what will improve the interface further.
- It is a free app and we connect peers to peers . So it is different from other solutions like Uber, Sidecar, Lyft which are more of taxi replacement services.
Finally , it is my firm belief that Ridesharing apps should be more popular, considering they satisfy an inherent need of people and it is my hope that AmigoRide turns out to be the RideSharing app of choice for most of the users 🙂
Guys, please download, share your feedback and also spread the word.