ridesharing idea

Uber x couchsurfing

what is needed to build a uber x couchsurfing project

• if its unpaid, then the idea is about fetching people "on the way" to somewhere
• i'm interested in it possibly as a couchsurfing "bus" system, where daily commuters get to pick up people going along the same way
• drivers can
  • set their own "routes" or
  • let the app track them for a day during their daily commute to generate route or
  • let the app access their google maps travel history
• drivers cannot
  • see other customers
  • know about customer locations before customers have picked them
• customers can search for their destinations
  • by matching drivers who are passing by their area
• customers cannot
  • see the entire route of any driver (dangerous)

frontend

"couchsurfer" customer facing

• search for people who want to give you a ride
• live update of cars arriving (ride tracking)
• estimation of fare not needed, but perhaps monetization in form of adverts on tracking page?
• panic button ? (don't know what promises we can make for that. maybe directly call the police?)
• favourite destinations
• settings for how much walking he/she is willing to do

data needed

• driver routing data (when they have picked one)
• driver location data
• customer personalization data
  • settings
    • how much walking
  • history
  • favourite destinations

driver facing

• ask for permission to turn on GPS
• alternatively define stopping points (bus-like, maybe better for japan?)
• track their customer location
• routing with google
• maybe route optimization (probably deferring to google directions, PAID)

data needed

• customer location data (when they have selected the driver)
• customer destination data
• routing from google API
  • alternatively send to google maps

• driver personalization data

backend - dispatching data

• run the matching algorithm
• separate from customer and driver app so that
  • personal data from driver and customer are not on other people's phones

data needed

• all driver routes
• all customer locations

database / backend

• firebase database - realtime updates
  • customer data
    • driver routes (stopping points) data
  • realtime driver data
  • realtime ridesharing data (when customers are journeying with drivers)
  • historical data (large storage needed)

stakeholders

• admin (us)
• driver
• passenger

ref

• https://www.engineerbabu.com/blog/how-to-build-an-app-like-uber/