Springwise - Transportation

Travel site finds the cheapest way to get there

2010-09-03T11:55:59Z

There are plenty of sites out there dedicated to helping consumers find the cheapest plane tickets for a given trip. What we hadn't seen until recently, however, is a site that looks beyond just airfares to identify the cheapest method of travel. Sure enough, Getset is a new site that helps consumers decide whether to go by plane, bus or automobile.

Users of Canadian Getset, which is now in beta, simply enter their starting point and destination—currently, only U.S. cities with an airport and bus station are covered. Getset then calculates the costs of transportation by air, car and bus. It gets distance of travel from Google Maps, while gas mileage and price-per-gallon numbers come from the AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Airline prices are provided via Kayak, and bus prices come from Greyhound. The result Getset provides free of charge to the user, then, is a bottom-line comparison on how much each method of travel will cost them.

Getset is working on adding train travel to its comparison mix; it's also still adding cities to its list. We wouldn't be surprised eventually to see the site factor in carbon footprint considerations as well, much the way the Carbon Diem mobile app does. Nevertheless, the premise is an interesting one, and ripe for emulation in other parts of the world.

Website: www.getsetapp.com
Contact: www.getsetapp.com/contact

Five neighbourly business ideas

2010-08-09T13:00:24Z

Localisation is a key buzzword for businesses promoting products and services, but advertisers aren't the only ones innovating at the local level. There's an exciting range of new enterprises targeting communities and helping neighbours connect. Here are five recent spottings with a neighbourhood focus:

1. STREETBANK — Streetbank in the UK aims to help neighbours get to know each other, simply by being nice. Users indicate something they'd be willing to lend, help with or give away. Having done that, they can see what others are offering in their area, or they can make a request for something specific. The result: people get to meet, share something, and hopefully become friends.

2. WIJ BOUWEN EEN WIJK — Wij Bouwen Een Wijk ("We're building a neighbourhood") isn't a company: it's a community effort to design and oversee the construction of every aspect of the neighbourhood in which project members will eventually live. Participants with the most innovative ideas can even get a street named after them!

3. DEHOOD — DeHood is a social network application that focuses entirely on location: everything and everyone that users see is in their immediate surroundings. To encourage a sense of community, users are encouraged to report what's going on nearby, from traffic accidents to get-togethers. Shoppers can share deals that they find in local stores, and promotions featured at chainstores are aggregated and passed on to users.

4. GASTOWN BLOG — The Gastown district in Vancouver has a lively website listing local events and promotions. It was formed in partnership between local government and businesses, but now features active participation from the wider community. Earlier this year The Gastown Blog attached QR codes to various historic buildings in Gastown, enabling passersby to instantly call up detailed information about the buildings.

5. CABSENSE — Featuring a smart use of the publicly available data gathered from New York City taxis' GPS devices, CabSense is an iPhone app showing locations where users are most likely to find a cab in their area. CabSense's algorithm uses the GPS statistics to calculate a probability score for successfully hailing a cab at any given street corner, at the current time (or at a time specified by the user).

Spotters: Jane Durney, Kevin de Caluwé, Cecilia Biemann, Kevin W.

Membership plan covers traffic violation fines

2010-07-29T21:52:43Z

Editor's note: Ticketfree's website is currently down. We haven't yet been able to find out what happened—maybe the Canadian authorities issued a cease-and-desist?

More than 41 million speeding tickets are issued to drivers in the United States each year, according to TrafficTicketSecrets.com. With an average cost of USD 150 each, that amounts to more than USD 6 billion lost annually by US consumers. Therein lies the motivation behind Ticketfree, a site that ensures its customers will “never pay a speeding ticket, red light ticket, photo radar ticket or traffic violation again.”

Canadian Ticketfree operates on a simple membership plan whereby an annual fee covers the costs of any tickets members get over the course of that year. A membership fee of USD 169 covers all speeding tickets for a year, up to a maximum of USD 600; for USD 299, red-light and photo-radar tickets are covered as well, up to a cap of USD 900; and a USD 449 fee buys coverage for all of the above plus parking and equipment tickets too, up to a maximum total of USD 1,200. Upon receiving a qualifying ticket, members simply visit the Ticketfree site and enter the details; the company will then pay the associated fine and send the member a confirmation email. Not covered by Ticketfree are DUI and other violations resulting from dangerous behaviour, the company says.

Ticketing is on the rise, Ticketfree notes, so a little peace of mind could go a long way for many frequent drivers. Currently, however, the company covers only those within the United States and Canada; one to emulate in other parts of the ticket-prone and lead-footed world...? (Related: Fare dodgers take Paris Métro for a ride with insurance pots against fines.)

Website: www.ticketfree.ca
Contact: general@ticketfree.ca

Spotted by: Michael Henry

Portland airport installs bike assembly station for travellers

2010-07-23T14:30:58Z

Air travel may not be the most sustainable mode of transportation, but it's becoming increasingly easy for consumers to choose a greener ride to and from the airport. Back in 2008 we saw the Seattle-Tacoma airport begin offering free electricity for plug-in cars, and now the Portland International Airport has set up a bike assembly station.

Located on the airport's lower terminal roadway, the new bike assembly station will enable people travelling with bicycles to more easily assemble and disassemble their bikes before and after flights. Portland is already well-known for its bicycle-friendliness, of course—it even has a bike path connecting to the airport. Accordingly, the assembly station can now be used by travellers and airport employees alike to get ready for a commute along that path, as well as by visitors to the city needing to disassemble their bike for a return flight home. As an extra service, Travel Oregon and the Port of Portland have made basic bike tools available for check-out at the airport's State Welcome Center along with literature about bicycling resources in the region.

With many travellers visiting Oregon and southwest Washington to take advantage of bike tourism and to participate in the region’s many bicycle events, the Portland airport's bike-friendliness makes extra good sense. Given the countless universal advantages of the bicycle, however—and the corresponding explosion in its popularity—Portland's example is ripe for emulation in any bicycle-friendly city around the globe.

Website: www.portofportland.com
Contact: contactus@portofportland.com

Spotted by: airlinetrends.com

In cycle-friendly cities, advertising on bicycle seat covers

2010-07-15T19:10:10Z

As bicycles grow in popularity, so do related opportunities for smart entrepreneurs and marketers. A concept we've increasingly spotted in bike-loving European cities—including on our own rides in Amsterdam—is bike seat advertising.

Ads are printed on plastic bike seat covers, which are then placed over the seats of parked bicycles, keeping seats dry and leaving an unavoidable impression. By selecting specific locations or even certain types of bikes, advertisers can focus on an audience that's as narrow or wide as needed. Parked bikes near universities to reach students, for example, or schools and cargo bikes—the Amsterdam version of the minivan—to target parents.

In Europe, the covers are sold by numerous companies, including Zadelhoesje, which addresses environmental concerns by selling seat covers made of recycled plastic. One to look into if you're in advertising or promo products. Or why not set up a standalone business, offering both printed covers and promotional teams to distribute them?

Website: www.zadelhoesje.com

Fiat offers electric bikes as loaner vehicles

2010-07-12T16:53:58Z

Last year we saw a UK Volvo dealership offer bicycles as loaner vehicles when customers' cars are in for service, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to something similar in Spain. Specifically, Fiat now offers owners of its Fiat 500 an electric bike option while their car is in the shop.

Launched in May, Fiat's offering is now available in its Barcelona, Valencia, A Coruña, Sevilla and Madrid locations through a partnership with bicycle maker Trek. There's no charge for borrowing the electric bikes, which have a 70 km range and recharge during braking as well as through plug-in power. The motivation for the move, Fiat says, is to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable mobility; the company also offers an eco:Drive service to help consumers use their cars more efficiently.

If the electric-bike loaner program proves popular in Spain, Fiat will reportedly extend it to other European countries as well. Other car makers and dealerships: what about you? And since this is a relevant and appealing way to let consumers try out a product that's still unfamiliar to most consumers, electric bicycle brands would do well to seize the opportunity and initiate similar partnerships. (Related: Bicycle trailers on loan at IKEA.)

Website: www.fiat.es
Contact: www.fiat.es/contacto

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

Austrian phone booths repurposed to charge electric vehicles

2010-06-30T12:18:05Z

Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, public phone booths are fast becoming obsolete. In a bid to find a viable new use for its 13,500 phone booths around the country, Telekom Austria has begun converting them into battery recharging stations for electric cars, scooters and motorbikes.

Unveiling its first phone booth-turned-recharging station in front of the company's Vienna headquarters in May, Telekom Austria announced plans to convert an additional 29 phone booths by the end of this year. During the initial trial period, recharging is free. The company eventually plans to charge a single-digit euro sum for the recharging service, with payments to be made via mobile phone.

Telekom Austria’s forward-thinking scheme comes at a time when, of the total 4.36 million cars on Austrian roads, there are only 223 electric cars and 3,559 hybrid cars registered. Yet the Austrian motor vehicle association, VOeC, predicts that the number of electric vehicles in Austria will rise to 405,000 by 2020. Telecommunications companies around the globe: a leap into the widely forecast EV-prevalent future worth following? (Related: Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles — Free car charging at new, greener McDonalds.)

Website: www.telekom.at
Contact: www.telekom.at/contakt/email

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Reflective lace combines style and safety for bicyclists

2010-06-17T15:14:04Z

The safety hazards of bicycle and scooter travel may demand protective gear, but that's no reason to stop being stylish, as we've already noted before. Recently we came across a new innovation for participants in either mode of transportation in the form of reflective lace that can be sewn into or worn over traditional clothing.

Reflective Lace, also known as “LFLECT,” is available in lengths of 120cm or as a set of two ruffled elastic rings to be worn directly over socks, gloves or hair; both are priced at GBP 20. Eight colours are available—including antique beige, antique mint green, black, bright fuchsia and canary yellow—as are two designs, including one with a bicycle pattern and wavy border. Reflective Lace is currently available only from London-based Lost Values, but its maker welcomes inquiries from potential retail partners. Bicycle-related stockists the world over: one to offer your fashion-conscious customers...?

Website: www.reflectivelace.com
Contact: elena@lostvalues.com

Spotted by: Green Thing

P.S. Along with three other companies we've featured (Sugru, Make Do and Woolfiller) Reflective Lace is in the running for Sustainability's Next Top Model, a contest organized by our friends at Green Thing. Head over to the competition's Facebook page to vote for your favourite.

Five businesses that build on the growing popularity of bicycles

2010-05-14T14:04:01Z

The attraction of cycling as a green, healthy, and cost-saving form of transport is huge for consumers, especially so at a time when the environment and world financial woes dominate the zeitgeist. Businesses doing something a little different for cyclists are a strong bet for success. Here's five we recently spotted:

1. GREEN GOOSE — As part of their package of web services allowing users to track healthy lifestyle achievements, Green Goose's bike-mounted sensors record cycling activity and upload the data over wifi. The company also provides services to help employers encourage cycling to work.

2. E-WERK — The energy generated pushing those pedals has long been tapped to power lights using a dynamo. But why stop there? German manufacturer Busch & Müller sells a dynamo-powered power supply allowing users to charge phones, MP3 players and other mobile devices. E-Werk comes with a selection of connectors including USB.

3. VELOCOMPUTER — Some cyclists may prefer not to fit an assortment of paraphernalia to their bikes, be it for security, aerodynamic or purely aesthetic reasons. VeloComputer is a mobile phone-based alternative to traditional bike computers and uses the accelerometer built in to many modern smartphones.

4. THE HUMBLE VINTAGE — If a cyclist is away from home and hasn't got their bike with them, they may want to rent something with a bit of personality that doesn't clearly signpost them as a tourist. Melbourne-based The Humble Vintage refurbishes classic and vintage cycles as a rental alternative to the ubiquitous MTB.

5. BICYKLO — Aiming to make it easier to find the perfect cycle tour, Bicyklo aggregates thousands of tour offers from hundreds of operators worldwide into a single database, allowing cyclists to search by area, duration and type rather than have to seek out individual operators and investigate what they have on offer.

Spotters: Doug Jost, Robin Benjamins

More P2P car-sharing, now in London

2010-05-06T12:02:20Z

If there was any doubt that peer-to-peer car-sharing is an idea whose time has come, surely those fears can now be put to rest. After reporting on the emergence of such services in the United States and then Australia, we were interested to note recently that a similar offering has just launched in the UK.

Much like the other contenders we've seen, WhipCar enables London car owners to rent out their cars while they're not using them. There is no registration fee to use the site's online booking system, and owners set their own prices. WhipCar notifies owners by text and email when there is an approved driver in their area who wants to use their car; both cars and drivers are screened by WhipCar before a booking is completed. Every trip, meanwhile, is fully insured through a comprehensive insurance package that temporarily replaces the owner's existing insurance for the duration of hire. Following the end of a rental, both owners and drivers have the chance to rate each other.

By matching up car-owning sellsumers with transumers and others who don't have their own, peer-to-peer car-sharing services seem to be creating a win-win for everyone involved. Entrepreneurs in other parts of the world: how about you...?

Website: www.whipcar.com
Contact: hi@whipcar.com

Spotted by: Adam Garrett

P2P car-sharing comes to Australia

2010-04-21T09:45:01Z

Few things please us more here at Springwise than seeing a good idea spread, and recently we had occasion to observe just that. Similar in many ways to RelayRides, which we covered earlier this year, DriveMyCar is bringing the P2P car-sharing concept to Australia.

DriveMyCar is an online rental marketplace that facilitates private car rentals for a weekend, a week, a month or even a year. Car owners begin by listing their car online—the fee is AUD 25 per car per year, and each listing can include up to 5 photos as well as specifying the minimum acceptable driving history for prospective renters. Those seeking to rent a car, meanwhile, can join for free and immediately begin browsing through the hundreds of options available throughout Australia. When a prospective renter books a car, the owner receives a booking notification via email and SMS; he or she can then view the driver's profile—which includes a record of their driving history—and accept or reject it. If the request is approved, DriveMyCar automatically generates a lease-out agreement. Renters pay an AUD 20 booking fee when their request is accepted, while owners are responsible for a 15 percent commission on the total rental value, which varies with the make, model and year of the car; that commission and the cost of DriveMyCar's motor fleet insurance are both included in the advertised rental price. Renters pay owners directly for use of the car, but DriveMyCar is available to intervene in cases of accidents or nonpayment. Owners can also rate drivers following the rental period; the better a driver's track record, the lower the insurance rates he or she gets charged next time.

Sellsumers have already begun looking to their other possessions as sources of income, so it makes perfect sense to see their cars included. Who will be first to establish peer-to-peer car-sharing in *your* neck of the woods? (Related: Site helps neighbours share tools & equipment — Parking operator launches car-sharing service — More ways for consumers to rent out unused space.)

Website: www.drivemycarrentals.com.au
Contact: www.drivemycarrentals.com.au/enquiries.asp

Spotted by: Jeremy Colless

Electric scooter's battery lifts out for easy charging anywhere

2010-04-13T15:40:21Z

Electric scooters may be increasingly popular as an emissions-free transportation option, but charging them can be a hassle. With that in mind, UK-based Econogo has come up with the Yogo, a scooter whose battery is designed to be removed for easier charging.

Most electric scooters are powered by built-in batteries. One result of that fact is that recharging them typically involves running a cable from a building to wherever the vehicle is parked and then waiting several hours for a full charge. That may work fine for those with easy access to a garage; for urbanites and apartment-dwellers, not so much. Econogo's newly launched solution: a scooter with a Lithium battery that can be simply lifted out, brought inside and charged within an hour. With a top speed of 30 miles per hour and a battery life of 22 miles, the Yogo is priced at GBP 1,999.

Econogo currently sells its scooters though its London showroom; one to partner with for scooter fans in other parts of the world? (Related: Lightweight electric bike targets urban commuters — Folding electric two-wheeler offers new take on urban cycling — Emissions-free motorcycle taxis.)

Website: www.econogoelectricscooters.co.uk
Contact: james@econogo.co.uk

Spotted by: Gemma Massey

Fractional ownership comes to high-end motorcycles

2010-03-31T10:01:52Z

For supercar fans, there's already écurie25. Private jet users have long had NetJets. Now high-end motorcycle aficionados have a fractional ownership club of their own through Columbus Club, based in Cannes, France.

In exchange for an annual membership fee, Columbus International's Columbus Club provides priority access to a "dream garage of exceptional motorbikes." Members need not worry about depreciation, insurance, servicing, maintenance or storage—the company takes care of all that. Rather, they simply pick a membership level and enjoy riding a variety of high-end bikes. Three membership levels cost EUR 2,000, 3,000 and 5,000 per year, respectively. In exchange, members are granted a corresponding number of credits for use on riding the bikes of their choice. A variety of models are available--all less than a year old, including the Ducati, BMW, Triumph and Hollister's brands--with daily rates ranging from EUR 195 off-season to EUR 385 during the peak of the summer. Cannes-based Columbus also offers chauffeur service to and from Nice airport, camera-equipped helmets and personal guided riding tours, among other extras.

With its focus on transumers—who would rather experience products than own them—Columbus Club's concept is one that could do well in any temperate, motorcycle-friendly part of the world. One to partner with or emulate on the scenic highways and byways near you...? (Related: Motorcycle hearses offer a (life)stylish final ride.)

Website: www.columbus-international.com/columbus-club/
Contact: discover@columbus-international.com

Organic soups, delivered weekly by bicycle

2010-03-25T08:26:07Z

We've seen bicycles used to deliver a variety of products in recent months, including groceries, farm produce and laundry. The latest spotting? Organic soup, made from locally grown produce and delivered each week to subscribers.

Three soups are typically on the menu in any given week at SoupCycle. Consumers who live or work in the Portland, Ore., company's delivery area begin by checking out the selections for the following week and placing their order by midnight on Friday; rustic bread, salad and dressing are also available. With a list of subscribers in hand, SoupCycle then buys the necessary produce from local farmers. On Monday it cooks up those ingredients into delectable soup, and then on Tuesdays it begins its weekly deliveries, with a different delivery day for each area. Pricing ranges from USD 18 for a quart of soup plus bread and salad, which will serve one or two people, to USD 45 for quantities that can serve six; items can also be ordered a la carte. A USD 3 delivery charge applies for orders under USD 18; otherwise, delivery is free. Each of SoupCycle's trailers can carry some 40 soup containers, 40 bread loaves and 20 salads at once, it says.

Since SoupCycle first launched about a year and a half ago, it has delivered more than 10,000 orders of soup, spent USD 33,000 with local farmers and saved 3,000 gas-powered miles by using bicycles instead. Some 300 subscribers now enjoy its weekly deliveries. One to emulate locally for some piping-hot profits of your own...? ;-) (Related: Sustainable baked goods by weekly subscription.)

Website: www.soupcycle.com
Contact: yesplease@soupcycle.com

Spotted by: Anna Brones

iPhone app helps London commuters claim refunds for Tube delays

2010-03-22T13:09:30Z

Just as EUclaim and Miss Refund help travellers claim refunds that are owed to them, so Tube Refund helps consumers get compensated for the 40 or so delays that occur each week on the London Underground.

Each time a train is delayed by more than 15 minutes, riders are entitled to a full refund of a single-journey fare. Many underground commuters aren't aware of that fact, or don't want to go to the trouble of submitting a claim, which is why LB Media created a Tube Refund application for the iPhone. Priced at GBP 0.59, the app can be used to register where and when a delay occurred and how long it lasted. Tube Refund then submits that information to the London Underground website, which generates a refund voucher for the user.

Tube Refund currently supports only Oyster and Travelcards, but National Rail tickets will be included soon; so, for that matter, will Blackberry support. What consumer pain points or little-known regulations could you turn into a profitable app of your own...?

Website: www.tubeticketrefund.co.uk