Posts Tagged ‘Shared Transport’

Why Shared Transport?

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, hitch-hiking around town or cross country became dangerous. Around the same time, credit became more abundant in the US and more people were able to buy cars than ever before. Cars also became increasingly important as people looked to raise their families in affordable housing further and further away from city centers. This helped to create an environment perfectly suited for Americans to get in their cars one-by-one and drive everywhere around town and beyond.iStock_000009383531XSmall

This perfect storm created an America of single occupancy vehicles, urban sprawl and commute times expanding from a few minutes to hours a day. The days of hitch-hiking were gone and carpooling became the ugly step sister for many years, considered dangerous and inconvenient by many.

However, in the last five years, as the US becomes more environmentally responsible and resistant to foreign oil dependency, we’ve come to realize a long-term solution needs to be found. Beyond hybrid vehicles, electric cars and public transit, we have to get more people to change their narrow view of owning a vehicle for themselves and instead think in terms of maximizing seat capacity for a better way of life.

The Avego solution is simple. Reduce the number of single occupant vehicles on our roads by creating a network of Shared Transport vehicles, in which people are matched together in real time to occupy a single vehicle, thereby saving gas, money and harmful C02 emissions.

Now, you can become part of the solution by sharing your car in a safe and economically positive environment by broadcasting empty seat availability and choosing to take on riders (for compensation). Conversely, as a rider, you can broadcast your destination and be matched in real time with drivers going where you need to go, when you need to go.

Safe, efficient and environmentally friendly… that’s the Avego Shared Transport solution.

Avego Shared Transport is available as a free iPhone app.

Riders do NOT need an iPhone to request rides – they can sign up for a free account to book rides online. Create your free Avego account here.

Learn more about Avego Shared Transport here.

Follow Avego on Twitter.


Twitter for Transit Agencies

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Twitter. Most often described with the off-putting title of “a microblogging platform”, Twitter is actually a highly effective business tool, through which an organization can provide a stream of short (140 character) updates (”tweets”) to an expanding community of followers.twitter

In the last year, Twitter has grown in popularity amongst transit agencies in the US as a tool for communicating with their customers about service changes and general news. While the number of agencies using Twitter is still small, agencies are increasingly trying to figure out how it can be of real strategic value.

Some great articles have been written about the business benefits of “tweeting” (such as here, here and here), but the specific role that Twitter can play in your transit agency requires some internal analysis. A general rule of thumb is to start by considering Twitter in terms of “how we communicate with our customers”, including potential customers.

Twitter provides some specific benefits to transit agencies, such as the ability to provide real-time service updates to customers, but it also offers more traditional marketing benefits, such as generating leads and web traffic. Once a decision has been made about how Twitter will be used to communicate to the world, then it can be assigned to a particular group with specific objectives.

When deciding how to use Twitter in your agency, look towards other related organizations that are already using Twitter, by searching for “#transit” on Twitter.

Avego uses Twitter to communicate the latest in transit related news and technology. You can find us at www.twitter.com/AvegoUSA


UCC Shared Transport Pilot Program Update

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Last week Avego held its latest focus group with participants in its Shared Transport pilot program at University College Cork (UCC), in Ireland. As the meeting took place on Thanksgiving, it was a timely opportunity to thank the group for their continuing participation and to provide a preview of Avego V2.0.

“We really appreciate everyone’s enthusiasm for the pilot, and the feedback we receive every week has driven the improvements and new capabilities in Version 2.0,” said Avego’s Pilot Programs Manager, Audrey Linnane. “Everyone is looking forward to trying it out for themselves, and to the upcoming expansion of the pilot to more staff and students.”

Focus Group at UCC

Focus Group at UCC

Avego’s UCC pilot aims to expand affordable commuting options for staff and students by providing a marketplace for drivers to offer their unused seats to other people in real time. 20 staff and students regularly use Avego’s iPhone app, while many hundreds more have registered their interest in participating in the next stage of the pilot, as both drivers and riders.

As well as being featured in the New York Times, and other local, national and international press, the pilot was also recently the focus of this evening news story on Irish national TV station TG4 (note: this video is in the Irish language, with English subtitles).


Futurefleet Winning Acceptance in the U.S.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Avego opens third office in North America

Avego’s Futurefleet, which is built on top of the same transport management infrastructure that Avego’s Shared Transport consumer application runs on, is seeing an explosion of growth and acceptance in North America.

Avego’s original, and still unique, strength of allowing consumers to advertise and / or book seats in passing vehicles provides cities and transit agencies with something they have longed for in their bus and public transit networks: an inexpensive, responsive and rapidly deployable solution for real-time passenger information.

In the last month, 3 more North American cities, which will be announced soon, have signed on to roll out Futurefleet-equipped buses. The attraction of the Futurefleet system is not only the cost, which can be up to 10 times less expensive than legacy technologies, but also the increased speed, capabilities and convenience of the Avego web-hosted solution.

Avego has just opened its San Diego office

Avego has just opened its San Diego office

Avego has just opened a new office in San Diego, which will provide post-sales support to our growing list of customers in North America. The new office is headed up by Leon Wong, who joins Avego from OneTouch – a leading provider of interactive distance learning applications, where he filled the roles of Senior Content Developer, Sales Engineer and Project Manager.


Avego Wins Irish Software Association Award

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

On Friday, November 13th, Avego won the Emerging Software Business award at the Irish Software Association’s Software Industry Awards. This award is made to the most promising emerging software company in Ireland.

Held at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, the Software Industry Awards recognizes world-class contributions by indigenous software firms to Ireland’s smart economy.

Avego at the Software Industry Awards

Avego at the Software Industry Awards

Avego was also selected as a finalist in the “Technical Innovation” and “Sales Achievement” categories, and was the only company to be a finalist in three categories.

Speaking at the awards, ISA Chairman Paul Sweetman said: “The companies and individuals that we have recognised tonight have generated fantastic value for customers and investors this year. These talented individuals will drive Ireland’s future economic growth.”

This award is the second award that Avego has received recently, having already won the “High Potential Start-up” award at the IT@Cork awards in October, and demonstrates Avego’s excellence in providing software for improving the efficiency of passenger transport.

2009 Software Industry Awards Winners:

Company of the Year 2009: Openet
Emerging Software Business Award: Avego
Sales Achievement Award: Percana
The Technical Innovation Award: iTab
Corporate Social Responsibility Award: Norkom Technologies
Collaboration of the Year Award: Local Social
Software Person of the Year: Paul Kerley, CEO of Norkom,
Student Medal: Yuandong Zhu of UCD

More information about these awards is available here.


Avego Presents at the ITS World Congress

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Last month, Avego presented at the 16th World Congress and Exhibition on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS) in Stockholm, Sweden. The theme of the event, ‘ITS in Daily Life’, explored how ITS can improve everyday mobility.

Avego's stand at the conference The conference, which was attended by 4,000 transport professionals, provided a perfect venue for Avego to present our products to key influencers of transport policy from all over the world.

Avego would like to thank everybody who visited Avego’s stand at the exhibition and we look forward to following up with the many new contacts and friends we made at the conference.


Avego Opens Asia-Pacific Headquarters in Dalian, China

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

DALIAN, China (Wednesday, 14 October 2009) –  Avego Ltd today opened its new China office for R&D and market development in Dalian during this week’s Enterprise Ireland trade mission to China led by the Minister for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher T.D.

Employing 15 engineers and support staff, the China office will provide Avego’s Shared Transport and Futurefleet solutions for the Chinese, Japanese and Korean markets, as well as export China-manufactured Avego hardware solutions to the worldwide market.

The official opening of Avego's new office in Dalian, China

The official opening of Avego's new office in Dalian, China

Avego’s focus on improved efficiency of passenger transportation networks has enabled it to double its staff in Ireland over the past 12 months, even during the difficult challenges of the current financial crisis, as it continues to expand its international presence.

The official opening was attended by Minister Kelleher; Chairman of Enterprise Ireland, Hugh Cooney; and Ireland’s Ambassador to China, Declan Kelleher.  Present from the city of Dalian were the Chinese Government’s Dalian High Technology Zone’s Vice Deputy Li Wei Ming, Bureau Director David Mao, Dalian Software Association Director Shun Pen, and Jeffrey Tan, General Manager of the Ascendas IT Park.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Kelleher said:

“Avego is a leading Irish exporting software company and one of the most prominent software companies in their field.  This announcement marks a significant step in their successful exporting strategy.  The establishment of this office in China will enable Avego to better access the potential in the Chinese market.  The company’s success in this market will help the further growth and development of their Irish base in Cork.”

Minister Billy Kelleher

Minister Billy Kelleher

The office, which includes a China Network Operations Center, is located in the Dalian High-Tech Zone.  Dalian, a city of 6.2 million people, is one of the most highly regarded places in China for the development of software, and also one of the fastest growing cities in China.  Avego is thought to be the first Irish technology company to establish in the city of Dalian, as well as the province of Liaoning, a region to the Northeast of Beijing with a population of 42 million people.

“We are thankful for the tremendous reception and co-operation we’ve received from the Chinese government in the establishment of our Asia-Pacific headquarters,” said Sean O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Avego Ltd.  “We look forward to working with transportation operators to face the unique challenges present in the massive and rapidly modernizing China.  Our staff in Ireland, China and the United States are combining efforts to produce products that will improve transportation networks worldwide.”

Sean O'Sullivan, Avego's Managing Director

Sean O'Sullivan, Avego's Managing Director

Making its American introduction one year ago in California, Avego has been providing its software and hardware solutions to transport operators in North America, Europe and Asia.  Avego’s iPhone application has been used in over 60 countries worldwide, and sparked a global media buzz on its release, with Avego being feature prominently by The New York Times, CNN, Fortune, and named by Silicon Valley’s San Jose Mercury News, as one of the most innovative technology companies at that time.


Slate singles out Avego

Monday, October 5th, 2009

Slate.com praised Avego’s iPhone app in an interesting article published earlier this month, which highlights the potential of the iPhone as a transportation tool.

The article considers the most promising iPhone apps for drivers, bikers and commuters and prominently features Avego’s iPhone app as one of the apps that can most improve the daily user experience of transportation.

Slate.com

Slate.com

“The most promising app I saw is the carpooling app Avego (currently in a “launch & learn state”), which is described as a “cross between carpooling, public transit, and eBay,” with a user reputation/feedback mechanism included; it also would include a payment function—i.e., a way to help out with gas money—which, as one rideshare expert put it to me, “is always awkward in person.”

The article was written by Tom Vanderbilt, the author of the New York Times bestselling book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). Tom also maintains a blog at HowWeDrive.com.


Shared Transport Pilot Opportunity

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Avego is now actively seeking partners with whom to launch Shared Transport pilots in the United States.

The pilots, which are eligible for funding under a new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) scheme, are intended to demonstrate the potential for Avego Shared Transport to reduce traffic congestion and expand affordable commuting options in a busy urban environment.

On August 5th, the FHWA issued a solicitation for states and  local government partners to participate in its Value Pricing Pilot (VPP) program. Federal funding is available for innovative, non-tolling pricing programs, including dynamic ridesharing projects like Shared Transport. Formal applications are due on November 3. However, the FHWA is willing to provide feedback on draft proposals submitted by September 21.

Federal Highway Administration logo

Federal Highway Administration logo

“The Federal Highway Administration recognizes the urgent need to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles on our road,” said Sean O’Sullivan, Avego’s Managing Director. “This new funding opportunity will make it possible for us to work with partners to make Shared Transport a convenient and daily reality for a critical mass of users in American cities.“

A full copy of the FHWA notice is available here.

Any interested parties should contact us or visit our booth (No. 114) at the 2009 ACT International Conference in Washington DC from August 30th to September 2nd.


New Avego Website!

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

We are happy to announce the launch of our new website, www.avego.com. The site has undergone a much needed face-lift and includes some new content and product information.

We hope that our new site will provide us with more room for presenting our expanding portfolio of efficiency-enhancing transportation products and services.

Visit our Shared Transport sub-site to learn more about our iPhone application for enabling private cars to become part of the public transport network, or visit our Futurefleet sub-site to learn more about our real-time management system for passenger transport operators.

Of course, we welcome your comments and feedback, and stay tuned for more updates to the content in the coming days, weeks and months!