System to fill empty car seats
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey will unveil the Avego system in Cork as part of a contribution to European Mobility Week.
Avego, which is already used in the San Francisco Bay area in America, is designed to reduce wasted seat capacity in cars.
The system uses iPhones and other mobile devices to pair drivers who have unoccupied seats in their vehicles with passengers who are willing to pay for their share of the commute.
The system allows a driver to advertise the excess capacity in his or her car using the iPhone’s GPS feature.
This capacity is matched to passengers who need to go in the same direction.
It is described as a cross between carpooling, public transport and eBay.
The man behind Avego, Cork businessman Sean O’Sullivan, said he also hopes to tap in to social networking communities like Facebook and Bebo to expand the system.
Mr O’Sullivan is the executive chairman of Mapflow and co-founder of MapInfo, the company which first popularised street mapping on personal computers in the 1980s.
“Public transit is great. But our goal with Avego is to turn every empty seat into a transport option for passengers... extending, feeding and augmenting the existing transportation network,” he said.
As part of Mobility Week, the Black Ash park and ride service is free until next Tuesday and the GoCar car sharing initiative will also be launched tomorrow.
Free health screenings will take place on the Grand Parade. Other events include free bike training courses for families, a sustainable transport exhibition, and a showcase of electric bicycles.
The Rebel Pedal bike parade and picnic is on Saturday, with some 1,000 people expected to take part.
Cork city centre will also be pedestrianised from 11am to 5pm next Monday.
The streets will be open for bicycles, buses, hackneys and taxis.
* www.corkcity.ie
* www.rebelpedal.ie
* www.mobilityweek.eu
* www.gocar.ie
* www.mapflow.ie
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