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SureLifts - the Mobile Community LiftClub

Challenges Entered: 
SureLifts is a mobile RideShare service that will enable a Commuter to be partnered with a Driver of a vehicle , sharing a transport lift , by utilizing the powerful matching service that will be offered to members of the Club who need an online service using the features of their basic Mobile device. The SureLifts service involves Commuters as members and should not be mistaken for a Car-Sharing service that has become popular with affluent citizens.

Overview

SureLifts is a mobile Rideshare service, where a Commuter may place a request for a lift, stating the days, time and the locations. The service is created to benefit all 2.2 billion mobile device users globally, by using the unpresedented computing power of footsoldiers that are willing to share partnering information in real time, for a win-win solution of all comunities.   If a Driver can reach you, you can be a partner sharing a transport Lift, negotiated by mobile phone!  More than 200 million people, who are not in a position to travel with their own vehicle, can improve their quality of life, by making use of a mobile Liftclub portal service.  

How does it work?

As validated registered members of the club, Commuters and Drivers will be matched, and after being served with quality information by SureLifts on their mobile phone, negotiate a Lift with an acceptable partner.  Members would be matched with available partners as soon as qualified offers become available, which would be submitted as mobile messages in order to take swift action.  A mobile SureLift portal was designed to provide comprehensive travel arrangements, helpful community and member account information in a very efficient style.  After conclusion of the lift arrangement, the members are afforded the opportunity to rate their partners and once more negotiate a new lift deal.

Benefits:

SureLifts allows the public community to participate in private partnerships enabling themselves with a mobile online service, when and where they need to go effectively, whilst improving their lifestyle. At the same time the members, as civilians, participate in improving the community service and assist in protecting the environment and improve social relationships.
SureLifts records the carbon emission value that the partners achieve by sharing transport.

The differentiator of the SureLifts service to all other available Rideshare services, are the fact they all present offerings only allow the matching part of online website portal requests. No futher records or performance information is available to Users to evaluate and manage their arrangement deal.
SureLifts is the only mobile solution that will allow the participants to monitor the progress of the transaction, receive notices of the presence of their partner and be ABLE to reschedule the arrangement whilst in progress. 

Open source coding will be used in order to make it feasible to provide the service cost-effectively  in as many communities globally as possible.

Why operate as a mobile platform?

The service must be offered on a mobile platform; in order that any person can, online, negotiate a lift in an effective and safe manner. Use will be made of location based services to determine the shortest and most convenient options to both partners. The two parties will as members have sufficient information, to privately conclude their arrangements, track progress and keep record of the carbon emission offset value that they have effected over a period.

Security:

The details of registered members will be kept private and secure by SureLifts and will only be used to validate the acceptability of the member according to the rules set by the Board of Trustees of the particular Lift Club.  As a premium service, members can be tracked by authorized friends and be served with location-based information relative to the route travelled.

This engineered service is unique in that it will be offered free to all participants on entry level mobile phones and that it protects the shared information of all participants, with  a strict code of ethics.

More information

Blog: http://surelifts.wordpress.com

SlideShow: http://gcmcknight.webng.com/Surelift/Surelift/Surelift/SureLift/

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkhbg1nsvUo

Mobile screen clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEM9Kf7cdw4

In addition:

Werner was the chief trainer of MeWe OpenSource's LPI training course and is now focussing on programming mobile device applications.  
After meeting Pieter Henning, the innovator of the SureLifts idea, it was decided to port the SureLifts application on cutting edge mobile technology. Since researching a mobile strategic plan for Standard Bank in 2000, Pieter has been working on the Mobile LiftClub idea, realizing that the unbanked citizens also need a service where they can participate to arrange a transport lift with partners to their preferred place of work or leisure.

Pieter is designing various mobile device applications that will port to the latest Symbian, J2ME  and Andriod platforms.

Project Details
Project url: 
http://rideactive.param.mobi/
Project video: 
Project RSS: 
http://www.rssletter.com/GetChannel/ChannelId=100755
Supporting organization: 
MeWe Arts & Culture
Project Assessment
Financial support: 
Project has financial support
Sustainability Model: 
The cost to members of the LiftClub would be minimal and is expected not to succeed $1 per Lift arrangement.  Since it is such a small expense relative to the estimated average lift distance per event of 10 miles ( 16 Kilometres) that will save the commuter at least $40 a month, the sustainablity of the SureLifts service is ensured.  The Club trustees will set up guidelines on a suggested reward to the driver, but the arrangement will be agreed to by the two partners and wll not share the any of the reward with SureLifts, that purely manages the matching service.   In the event that the driver helps more that one commuter, more savings in terms of transport costs, a bigger carbon emission offset value and less traffic congestion on the road will be effected.   Estimated Financial seed funds of $1.4 million would be required to set up and test the pilot service to an acceptable standard. In addition: No
Expertise needed: 
In order to customize the SureLifts service in non-English speaking countries, assistance would be needed to set up the service on other continents according to the language and culture of the local users.
SureLifts must be managed as a well-constituted club, run according to the directives of a Board of Trustees. The correct expertise will be sought for consultation that will ensure that the principles of; good security of the service, offering anonymity of members, fair ratings of members and quality of service is maintained.    Although the integrity of club members will be ensured with comprehensive details required for membership, SureLifts only provides the Matching and verification service.   Members are well aware of their particular LiftClub rules and will make their own responsible decisions on setting up partnerships.  A legal practitioner is required to set up proposed guidelines for the benefit of LiftClub. Partnerships in rendering the application on Microsoft Mobile and Andriod platforms will broaden the footprint of the service.
In order to populate the membership speedily, dynamic marketing in countries where the communities are not so well versed with the mobile use of mobile devices should be done effectively.   The service will grow organically very quickly once the public community experience that many lift opportunities are registered, that can be considered as options.
Project goals: 
• Developed Mobile Banking Strategic Plan for a major Bank In South Africa: 2000 • Developed a Location Based product plan for a Mobile Operator in South Africa: 1999• Delivers a paper at the Dept of Transport, Innovation Symposium in South Africa on SureLifts:   29 November 2007 • Developed the SurePower user WAP site: July 2008 • Lead an Open-session discussion at the MobileActive08 summit on Providing Mobile services to  Communities: 15 October 2008 • Launch http://surelifts.wordpress.com: 2 December 2008• Finalize Beta for service application: October 2009 • Pilot Test: January 2010 • Market the SureLifts product globally: May 2010
Identified Obstacles: 
Although SureLifts only provide a matching service, some countries may wish to protect the utilization of public transport.  The laws of a specific country regarding driver licensing will be honored by the membership requirements of the LiftClub; Taxi operators would be encouraged to also participate in offering services and the lifts could act as a feeder service to official bus stops as well.Where mobile signal reception is lacking, members may use the Internet through computers or Information Kiosks to gain access to the SureLift portal for a similar range of services.

Location

London
United Kingdom
See map: Google Maps
Submitted by v3nz3n on March 2, 2009 - 11:59am

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