Carpooling

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A ride- sharing option is the ability to share the use of a means of transport by another person - typically at a cost. As a rule, these are car pools in which the driver offers seats in his own car on a trip planned by him.

term

The idea of ​​sharing means of transport is not new, given that vehicles are designed for several people. Concepts for the formation of car pools, hitchhiking and the spread of car pooling systems accompany the history of the motorization of modern societies. The special term “carpooling” gained popularity in the course of the spread of online carpooling services in the 2000s and 2010s. "Carpooling" was added to the Duden dictionary with the description "Opportunity, possibility [with cost sharing] to ride in a private vehicle".

Based on this understanding, the offer of the lift opportunity precedes the implementation of a car pool. In colloquial terms, however, the terms “carpooling” and “carpooling” can be used interchangeably (“I have a carpooling opportunity to Berlin”). Although the general understanding of a ride-sharing option relates to the use of a car, the term can also be used to refer to the use of group train tickets and taking them on a private plane (see atypical ride-sharing agencies ).

If carpooling is understood as a typical trading relationship in the sharing economy , it is assumed that the parties involved do not know each other better - because only in this case do you need the help of an intermediary such as an online carpooling service. Lukesch (2019) refers to this form of car pooling / car sharing in a car: "Car pools [...] are groups of people who come together via an online car pool service to share a car for private purposes on the basis of driver-induced planning . "The offer and participation in the car pool are subsumed under" Carpooling ". This definition also indicates that the driver is planning the trip and offering seats.

Mediation

For a long time, car pooling was mainly organized through established carpooling agencies or in private surroundings. Before the spread of the Internet, free carpooling was also not uncommon, for example from student organizations, using notice boards or note boxes set up for this purpose .

With the increasing spread of the Internet , special Internet sites were developed that provide free or chargeable carpooling. In this way, the search and the offer of trips are organized via the corresponding internet portals. These modern online carpooling services offer, in addition to the often chargeable brokerage, insurance services that relate to the car pool. There are car-sharing agencies with different focuses, for example from one-time long journeys to regular commuter journeys with a location-dependent search in the area or spontaneous mediation via smartphone or internet-enabled navigation system .

Another, locally restricted option for finding a lift is via so-called " passenger benches ". A bench is placed in the location and provided with a sign on which the destination is written. If a person sits on the bench, drivers passing by know that this person is looking for a lift to the destination marked.

Carpooling for items

One variant is the transport of objects. The so-called co-loading enabled freight forwarders to use free capacities. For private individuals, some ride sharing agencies offer a similar service, but the idea here is more the suitcase or the large gift box.

Procedure for online carpooling services

Even though carpooling is an individual matter, it typically follows a similar process on internet portals like BlaBlaCar :

  1. Mediation : Drivers post their travel offer with all details relevant to the journey (start, destination, date, price, etc.) on the Internet portal. The online carpooling service compares these details with the search queries from passengers and, if compatible, establishes contact between users.
  2. Organization : If the mediated partners agree on the implementation of the car pool, further details of the journey implementation are discussed in the organization phase. The driver acts as an organizer between all the passengers he accepts.
  3. Implementation : The carpool participants meet at the agreed location and start the journey.
  4. Payment : With the successful completion of the car pool, the passengers pay the fare to the driver and - if requested - pay the agency fee charged by the online carpooling service.

Differentiation from (semi-) professional passenger transport

While the fare to be paid for a ride is often a share of the costs for the journey carried out ( fuel , tolls , maintenance) shared among those involved in the car pool , in professional passenger transport there are usually fixed prices that are independent of the number of passengers . Furthermore, the ride-sharing option differs from professional offers, since here the driver plans the trip and carries it out "anyway", while professional transport services "only" take place when required by the rider: Taxi drivers only drive when they have a passenger, and system traffic ( Long-term bus , train ) will be discontinued if the demand decreases sufficiently.

The latter notice is important when the term ridesharing is also used in relation to companies like Uber and Lyft . Private drivers offer taxi services here. In these cases, however, it is the "passenger" who plans and arranges the journey, whereas in the understanding discussed so far, this is the responsibility of the driver.

literature

  • Nelson D. Chan, Susan A. Shaheen: Ridesharing in North America, Past, Present, and Future . In: Transport Reviews , Vol. 32, No. 1/2012, pp. 93-112.
  • Volker Handke, Helga Jonuschat: Flexible ridesharing: New opportunities and service concepts for sustainable mobility . Springer, Berlin / New York 2013.
  • Maximilian Lukesch: Sharing Economy in Logistics: A Theory-Based Concept for Online Ridesharing . SpringerGabler, Wiesbaden 2019, also dissertation at the University of Regensburg .

Web links

Commons : Carpooling  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  1. ↑ See Lukesch (2019), pp. 10-17.
  2. ↑ See Duden - Carpooling .
  3. ↑ See Lukesch (2019), p. 52.
  4. ↑ Lukesch (2019), p. 52.
  5. ↑ See Lukesch (2019), pp. 52–56.
  6. ↑ See Lukesch (2019), pp. 21–24.
  7. ↑ See Lukesch (2019), p. 52.