Just before Christmas, Avego’s iPhone client began to ship.

And already, we’ve had people using the product in over 30 countries worldwide.  When you download the product, it has a feature which shows how many shared seats are available in your neck of the woods.  Hopefully this number is growing daily in the area around you.

We’re just getting back from the New Year holiday ourselves, but wanted to point out five things to know as you use the program:

1. “Learn More”

There is a “Learn More” button on the iPhone application which provides a bunch of assistance, FAQs on how to use the product, etc.  Here is the link (although the web pages are formatted to work better on your iPhone than on normal web browsers).

2. “Launch & Learn Mode”

Many people assume that Avego can’t possibly be launched all over the world at the same time… but it is!

How it is possible that Avego could be launched worldwide all at the same time, and yet still is able to guide prospective riders & drivers to within feet of their pick-up and drop-off locations?  That would be impossible, wouldn’t it?   The Trick answer: Web 2.0.  We’re counting on our users to add their favorite routes and the stop locations along their routes.  When more people do this, it makes the network work that much better.  The network is in “training mode” right now, and the more drivers that use it, the better it will work for ALL drivers and riders.

That is, if you are one of the first couple of hundred people to download the application in New York City, you may find some stops defined in your area… but more likely, over such a large area, you’re going to have to define some pick-up and drop-off locations that are convenient for *your* commute.  It’s like how wikipedia got started… a few thousand articles got people to use it, in English, and then, many years later, through the contribution of tens or hundreds of thousands of “editors” there are millions of articles in many different languages.

Now, we know that, in a few ways, the product is geared more for the US market (because the iPhone is so popular in the United States).  In fact, nearly 70% of the downloads of the Avego application have been in the US.  Right now, we are pricing the transport service only in US Dollars right now.  That is a temporary issue.  We hope to support multiple currencies in an upcoming release.  But, as a Rider, you can purchase Avego credits via your Euro or Yuan bank account as well, through paypal.  And, as a driver, you can move out the credits you earn into your local currency as well.

3. This is an experimental travel network

Hey, we’re not allowed to call the product a beta product because Apple doesn’t allow us to.  But the reality is that it’s not perfect, and we know it’s not perfect, and we’re working on improving it day by day.  Naturally, there are several features that aren’t in the shipping product right now that we know need to be (our “communities” implementation, for example, which allows people to share rides only to a group of others in their social or work network).  This and many other features are under development and should be available to you in the coming months.

There are also a number of things we’ve overlooked that we’ve quickly discovered as the users have blossomed into the thousands for our iPhone and web applications for Avego.  For example, the automotive database we’re using on the iPhone isn’t comprehensive enough. We will address these issues in an upcoming intermediate release.

But there are also several features that aren’t in the product that could be.  Write an e-mail to suggestions (at) avego.com  to let us know what you think should be in the product.

4. Drivers Welcome

The iPhone application is currently more geared to the Driver than to Riders… for several reasons.  We need to gather information about routes and pick-up points before rides can be offered.  Once there is a critical mass along a route, the application works great for Riders… but in most areas it may take months or even years to develop this critical mass.  So in particular, we’re looking for Drivers right now.

Don’t worry though, as a Rider, by submitting a transport request from one place to another, we record this in a data log and will automatically notify you when some services become available in your area.  And drivers that register their routes now, we know that riders aren’t available right now in most areas… but as they become available, we’ll let you know…

5. How Can I Help?

We’ve been hearing from a lot of people about how they like the idea and the capability of the iPhone product.  It’s great to hear from so many transport professionals who really dig it and want to help spread the idea in their area.  The truth is, we can use all the help we can get!  We’re starting a bit of a transport revolution by this radical idea of using all this wasted transport capacity on an ad-hoc basis.

Let us hear from you!  While advocacy of this concept can happen work group by work group or campus by campus, it can also be encouraged by pilot programs and by governmental grants. Write to support (at) avego.com if you are looking to file a project proposal to your local government or transport management association to support funding a “shared transport” pilot in your metropolitan area, or in a government agency or corporate campus.  We’d love to support (with white papers or sample proposals) funding applications to governments and third parties.  Obviously the primary beneficiary of any pilot is going to be the driver/rider.  Let us know what you think and how we can help!

Thanks to the thousands of people who have already shared their enthusiasm for this idea.  We’re looking forward to developing this concept rapidly throughout the coming year!

Best wishes to you and yours for a productive and happy 2009!

Sean O’Sullivan