Creating trust in Ridesharing networks

1
Creating trust in Ridesharing networks Lorenza
Parisi, Magdalena Pantazi MAS.960_Signals, Truth
and Design Instructor_ Judith Donath Fall 2007
2
Ridesharing definition and history
The FTA (2006) defines the ridesharing as the
act of sharing a vehicle with one or more other
people. We use the expression ridesharing to
talk about ridesharing with cars - also known as
carpooling.

• Ridesharing origin
• World War II (increase in gasoline prices
  encouraged the conception of that service to save
  money).
• Commercial ridesharing services since the '70s
  (massive use of private cars, increasing concern
  for the environment and oil crisis)

Observation
The average car occupancy in the UK is reported
to be 1.59 person/car 1.2 for commuters and 2.1
for holiday trips.
increase in the number of unoccupied seats
Last 30 years the number of private vehicles has
remarkably increased
tremendous unused transportation capacity
Possible Solution
Ride sharing reduces the number of cars on the
road
positive effect on the economy and on the
environment
reduces CO2 emissions
3
How does the online ridesharing system work?

• Online interface
• Create a profile.
• Provide travel schedule, preferences, starting
  and final destinations.
• Search for a ride (rider or driver).
• Select between commuting or trip.

• How do the sites work?
• Many ridesharing online sites are applications of
  popular web sites (e.g.Craiglist, Facebook).
•  Different platforms with different degrees of
  automation in matching.
• Private or public sponsors (offering free and
  preferred parking spaces, discounts and other
  financial incentives).
• Ridesharing experiences economies of scale the
  larger the number of users in the system, the
  more likely it is to find a good match.

4
Advantages and Disadvantages

• Advantages of ridesharing
• Reduces the number of single driver cars on the
  road
• Reduces smog, congestion and fuel consumption.
• Saves fuel - positive effect on the whole
  economy
• Increases social interaction
• Creates opportunities for increasing social
  capital
• Disadvantages of ridesharing
• problems with security and trust
• lack of flexibility.
• social discomfort with sharing
• possible imbalance of costs and benefits among
  the users
• loss of time

• emerging technologies
• Internet
• mobile phones
• position-sensing devices (GPS)

Support
Creation of Trust Creation of Dynamic ridesharing
5
Analyze Online Ridesharing sites using the
Signaling Theory

• How do Online Ridesharing Sites establish
  relations of trust among users?
• Creating a system of reputation.
• Construction of reputation requires identity,
  memory and communication.
• Identity individuals are not anonymous they
  have some consistent form that is recognizable
  over time (Online Users Profile).
• Memory information persists over time
  recognition is an aspect of memory (Online
  history).
• Communication information moves from one person
  to another (Online Rating System or Social
  Network of friends).

In the paper we will examine two online
Ridesharing sites the NuRide.com and the
Carpool application on Facebook.
6
NuRide.com
Which are the characteristics of NuRide.com
? Target group people leaving in USA (23.065
members). Ride matches mapping users profiles.
Ride rewards people for sharing rides the more
a user travels, the more he/she gets incentives
and discounts. Which are the characteristics in
terms of the Signaling Theory? Identity Provide
basic information on the users profile and trip
preferences. Define preferences for rides
partners. Reliability Check users affiliation
by requiring a corresponding email
address. Memory The system keeps track of all
the trips a user made. All feedback information
concerning the ride is visible in the user's
profile. No photo of the user is required.
Communication Information about ride
experiences is provided through a rating system
in a range from 1 to 5 about responsibility of
the driver, vehicle condition, time and
considerate. Feedback information is public and
is made visible in every users profile.
7
Carpool Application on Facebook
Which are the characteristics of Carpool
Application ? Created on April 2007, has 23.000
members. Target group Facebook users. Ride
matches the user selects the ride between people
within the same network. Sub communities exist
within the application (e.g. MIT Ride Board,
BOSTON MA) that help people to refer to a
specific network. Which are the characteristics
in terms of the Signaling Theory? Identity
Facebook users profile information. The user can
add information concerning trip
preferences. Reliability Social network of
friends. Memory Photos or other identity
signals - friends and interests - are visible in
users profile. Communication Existence of a
public space where all users - rider and driver
- can post comments about the ride. Friends
exchange information before and after the ride.
8
Costs for users in NuRide.com and Carpool
Application

• Costs for the user to participate in the site
• Time spend while filling the profile information.
• Privacy implication.
• In Nuride.com
• The user has to be part of an organization
  (company, university, corporation).

• Costs of Deceptive signals
• Safety risks violence, rape, kidnapping, murder.
• Unpleasant ride. Mismatching of the driver-rider.
• Loss of time (the driver does not leave the rider
  in the promised destination or he isn't on time).

• Benefits for the user
• Sharing the expenses of the trip.
• Free parking, free tolls.
• Preferred high lanes.
• Satisfaction of practicing environmental friendly
  behaviors

9
Comparison of the two online ridesharing sites
Trust and Reputation What motivates users to
provide feedback? What motivates users to be
honest? The two networks address the
establishment of trust in different ways
Reciprocity Rewards Public duty
Reputation system based on rating
Motivation for feedback
NuRide.com
Reputation system based on Social Network of
friends
Carpool Facebook Application
Feedback information circulate among friends
Hypothesis Social Network of friends may
support the creation of Trust.
10
Survey on the members of the MIT Ride Board
community on Facebook
Questions to identify user's profile, average
use, aims, characteristics of the commuting/trip,
benefits and disadvantages of the system.
Focusing on trust how does the social network
influence social interaction?

• Results and interpretations of the survey
• Most members of the network (82.4) are would be
  user of the service.
• People would prefer to use Carpool application
  (58.3), because they feel safer in a trusted
  network of friends.
• Advantages of the system Increase social
  interactions (75).
• Disadvantages of the system Safety risks (58.3)
  and difficulty in matching schedules (58.3).
• Although the system seems trustful enough,
  members of the service do not use it. Why?
• New application, limited users, need of critical
  mass.
• Problems with trust and coordination schedules.
• How can we improve Trust in online ridesharing
  networks?

11
Design proposals for the improvement of trust

• How can we increase the level of trust between
  users in the online ridesharing networks?
• Create smaller communities/sub networks inside
  the system (organization in terms of
  neighborhoods, working company, education).
• Use emerging technology like cell phones and GPS
  position sensing devices to
• verify the arrival at the destination
• promote ad-hoc schedules (dynamic ridesharing)
• Costs implications for privacy of the users