WP7 App will help success of Seattle’s go520 Ridesharing Pilot
Avego Driver has broken new ground yet again by becoming the first real-time ridesharing application available on Windows Phone 7, as well as the first real-time ridesharing app compatible across multiple mobile platforms. While Avego Driver for iPhone has been available since 2008, with thousands of users in over 60 countries around the world, the new app on Windows Phone 7 uses a new style of interface that will be easier to deploy and use on more mobile devices.
The app was built specifically to support the Seattle-area’s go520 real-time ridesharing project. Crucial to the success of go520 is the involvement of Microsoft’s 89,000 employees, all of whom were given a Windows Phone 7 mobile, many of whom commute along the heavily-congested SR 520 corridor. Hundreds of Microsoft staffers have already signed up to use the new app to share rides between Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, and downtown Seattle.
go520 allows 250 drivers with GPS-enabled smartphones to offer the empty seats in their vehicles to 750 riders along the SR 520 highway, in real time, as they travel. Avego pairs passengers and drivers through an easy-to-use system using Windows Phone 7 and other mobile devices. Avego automatically distributes the cost of the commute among the riders, providing a key financial incentive to commuters frustrated by high gasoline prices.
The new Windows Phone 7 app takes advantage of the panoramic layout of the Windows interface. For example, users can quickly swipe left and right to view trip details and a map view of their route, without having to load a new screen.
Sean O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Avego, said, “Clearly, smartphones are not dominated by a single vendor any more, and that means that real-time ridesharing needs to support all the major platforms to be viable and to maximize the odds that people will be able to share their wasted seat capacity. We don’t support every major platform yet, but we’re delighted to add WP7 to the mix.”
The app is now available for free download from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.
Hi
I tested the Avego Driver for WP 7 and it has been working like a charm. My friend Geir is using it and I’m using the iPhone app and they communicate without a problem. Please also support selected Android phones.