Friday, June 26th, 2009
Why I Use Avego
Tom Gems is a very active participant in Avego’s pilot program at University College Cork in Ireland. While studying for a Master’s Degree in Interactive Multimedia, Tom also runs a successful mobile sushi bar service, which means that he spends a lot of time driving his van to markets all over the country.
“I signed up to the pilot because it sounded like a cool application, but also because of the vast number of cars I see on the road every day traveling with just one occupant. I also like the idea of sharing the costs of driving with others, particularly in times of recession.”
Now Tom uses Avego's iPhone app all the time. Tom is impressed with the latest updates to the software, which have been largely driven by feedback received from participants in the UCC pilot. Since starting three months ago, Tom has traveled 126 journeys and picked up 167 simulated (“ghost”) riders, yielding $468.40 in Avego ghost credit (not real money).
“Picking up ghost riders is fun," said Tom, "and it’s a great way to get to know how the system works before you start to pick up real passengers. It also makes it easy to see how much income you could generate by picking up real people on your daily commute.” Sharing seats at his current rate, but with real people, Tom could save $1,873.60 on his commuting costs over a full year.
Tom looks forward to sharing the vacant seats in his car with real people later in the year, and sees great potential for lessening the impact that his driving has on the environment. He believes that Avego Shared Transport has a bright future.
“My friends and family are all very impressed by the application and would love to get involved. I think the government should provide tax incentives to get people to use it. It would also be nice if car manufacturers included the software as a new feature in their cars.”
Later this year, Avego will be commencing Shared Transport pilot programs at other major campus environments. If you are interested in starting a pilot at your corporate or educational campus, please let us know.
- Learn more about Avego Shared Transport here »
- Download the Avego iPhone app for free here »
- Create an Avego account here »
- Download our Quick Start Guide for drivers here »
- Help us to spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to a friend.
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Updated Web Interface
Everyone with an Avego Shared Transport user account can log in at www.avego.com to access a range of features for managing and reviewing their use of the system. We have just updated this web interface to make it easier for drivers to manage their routes and the stops they have created.
In the “Driver Routes” screen, you can edit any routes you have recorded using an improved map-based interface. Simply drag the route line to match the exact route you normally travel. As before, you may also choose which stops should appear along your route as you drive. To block any stop from appearing on a route, just select the green tick next to the stop name in the panel on the right.
You can now also use the web interface to edit the name, address and description of any stop along your route. As the stops you create will also be used by other drivers and riders, it’s important that this information enables the stop to be easily recognized. You will automatically receive an e-mail whenever you create a stop, prompting you to refine this information. This means, for example, that you can easily correct any spelling mistakes you may have made while suggesting the stop on your iPhone.
The web interface also provides you with access to a detailed statement of your usage history and the ability to manage your user profile details and passenger preferences (e.g. how far you are willing to walk to a pick-up point, how you would like to be notified, etc.).
If you have not already created a user account, you can create one for free here.
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Futurefleet: Passenger Services
Futurefleet is our end-to-end real-time management system for passenger transport operators, providing a comprehensive range of features for enhancing operations services, passenger services and in-vehicle services. This month we will take a closer look at Futurefleet's Passenger Services capabilities.
With Futurefleet, operators can use an intuitive web interface to more effectively communicate their services to customers. In just a few minutes, you can customize and install Avego's Transportal - a free plug-in for your website that can provide your customers with journey planner capabilities, comprehensive information about the reach of your transport network, your latest timetables and the ability to book tickets.
With Futurefleet, you can also present departure and arrival times in a familiar departure board layout, either as a plug-in for your website or as an auto-refreshing display screen. A range of hardware is available for presenting this information at bus stops and on board buses. If your vehicles are equipped with Futurefleet mobile data terminals (MDTs), you can present real-time departure and arrival times based on the live movements of your vehicles. Customers may also access this information from anywhere by SMS, e-mail and interactive voice response.
To learn more about Futurefleet's Passenger Services capabilities, watch our latest video screencast:
- To learn more about a real-time passenger information (RTPI) pilot of Futurefleet, contact Avego's sales team.
- Learn more about Futurefleet's full range of operations services, passenger services and in-vehicle services capabilities here »
- Watch a screencast about Futurefleet's operations services here »
- Watch a video demo of Futurefleet here »
- Learn more about federal funding opportunities for FuturefleetTM in the United States here »
- If you know somebody who might be interested in Futurefleet, please forward them this newsletter.
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