Ridesharing… a study in ubiquity

A friend of mine just exposed me to a new website he recently uncovered.  In truth, we’d stumbled on Zimride before, but it’s easy to forget all the players in this sector as it evolves.  What began as “cab sharing” has expanded to “ride sharing,” and clearly the public understands the concept and its value.

That’s good news for us, IF we can capture the market before it’s saturated.

Zimride is dedicated to enabling private drivers to fill the empty seats in their cars with commuters headed in the same direction, and we commend the site’s founders for their focus on multi-purpose sustainability.  This time around, we’re taking greater notice of the operation, for two reasons:

FIRST, Zimride’s objective is one that our platform is perfectly positioned to accommodate already.  Although we seek to wield taxicabs as an urban-based  mass transit network, CabCorner’s real value is simply helping travelers meet up.  The particular mode of travel–notwithstanding our branding–is completely up to the users.  As such, our platform can similarly be used to put private drivers in touch with those who would make their commute a little less lonely….  The trick now comes down to a marketing strategy, and requires us to be more comprehensive in appreciating the many uses of our own product.

SECOND, Zimride’s success emphasizes the importance of partnerships.  The company has, through a Facebook application–clearly an add-on that we need to consider in addition to our mobile platforms–secured the financial support of that behemoth social network.  It’s also been able to sign up such corporate titans as WalMart and Cigna.  But it appears that their revenue and the majority of their relationships come in the form of technology leasing agreements with institutions who value their service… most notably college campuses.  For example, check out the University of Maryland’s ride share program, powered by Zimride UMD.

A word to the wise, for our team and theirs:

CabCorner is soon to offer a pretty competitive alternative, as our website is FREE and universally accessible.  It’s also centrally managed; that is, no setup is required by private operators.  This could make Zimride vulnerable to our offerings as they become known following the launch of our Beta in spring 2010.

Yet we would also be well-served to learn from their strategy, as many organizations might seek the closed-network service on which Zimride is founded.  Maybe this advanced cost premium servicing could be adapted as yet another stream of revenue?

Read more about Zimride and its founders in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.