Corporate Carpools
Many companies, universities and organizations support closed carpools as a member benefit. By limiting the carpool to a closed group, lack of trust is usually not an issue anymore – and communication between participants is intended. In case many carpoolers share one campus or building, the probability to find a matching ride is much higher in this circular setting than in a plain field setting. Smaller companies might even team up with other companies close-by in order to reach the critical mass for a sufficient ride matching probability.
Expected Benefits
Benefits for the employees
- Reduced commuting costs
- Networking
- Perks related to the carpool, such as priority parking
- Reduced stress by not driving on their own
Benefits for the company/organization
- Higher employee satisfaction
- Networking among different departments
- Reduced carbon footprint for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
- Improved image as a environment-friendly company
- ISO 14401 certification friendly
- Reduced need for parking space
The following post gives an overview about some carpooling systems available for these corporate carpools.
Functionality
When organizations set up a carpool, they need to select a system matching their specific needs. Just implementing any kind of matching software and hoping that it will be used won’t be sufficient. To reach a sufficient matching probability, a “critical mass” (or more precisely a “critical density”) needs to be active right from the start. Otherwise participants will test it, not find a ride – and be lost for the system. Promising carpooling systems offer both: the technical platform and implementation and operations support.
User Functions and Criteria
- Pricing model
- Payment options
- Rewards program
- Pickup at dedicated stops/routes or anywhere
- Round trip support
- Recurring rides support
- Calendar integration for Outlook, Google Calendar, …
- Backup mobility guarantee
- Driver, passenger and luggage insurance
- 24/7 customer care
- Chat of phone support function in app
- Emergency function in app
- Driver and passenger verification
- Driver and passenger rating
- Blacklist function
- Real-time vehicle tracking prior to pickup and during the ride
- Dynamic real-time ride matching or pre-booked only
- Intermodal or multimodal integration of public transport and other shared mobility
- Integration of public transport
- App integration into the car navigation for drivers
Businesses functions
- Implementation support
- Configurable detour limitation
- Customizable routes
- Reporting and Analytics
- Open and/or closed community
- Branding (supplier, co-branding, white label)
- Multi location and time zones
- Multi-language support
- Multi-client capability
- Software as a Service (SaaS) only or also on-premise
- Single Sign On (SSO)
- Interfaces (Web, App, Calendar, APIs)
- Open standards support
Let’s have a look at some of the known systems for closed/corporate carpooling on the market:
This list is not exhaustive and does not contain open/public carpooling systems. This information is supplied without liability and subject to change. For German-speaking countries you can find a comprehensive list of carpooling systems at the Bundesverband Mitfahren (carpooling association).
Conclusion
The market for carpool systems is developing quickly and pure software offers might in future be offered via specialized consultancy companies. So please provide feedback and further insights on the systems, share your experience and watch this space!