Show HN: Damn Simple Carpooling

http://www.damnsimplecarpooling.com

by scootklein • 15 years ago

53 21 15 years ago

Great idea.

ams6110• 15 years ago

Looks really nice. How many people actually carpool? Where I live in relation to where I work it's not really a possibility for me, and even if it were I'm not sure I'd like the constraints, i.e. I can't work late even if I'm really in a groove on something, I can't run any errands, etc.

scootklein2• 15 years ago

fair points for sure. obviously we're hoping the answer is "with this app, more people than normal".

ryanwaggoner• 15 years ago

How many people actually carpool?

A lot, but interestingly, not as many as used to a couple decades ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/01/29/us/20110129-na...

SickAnimations• 15 years ago

I'm surprised at how simple you've made it, excellent work.

freejack• 15 years ago

Neat. Any thoughts on what the revenue model might look like? My first inclination is that this might not be a big enough problem, but there are a number of examples of recurring group activities where prior confirmation is useful - running groups are the first one that immediately came to mind.

I think the core of the idea is more "really simple RSVP" and much less about carpooling. With that focus, there are probably some really nice ways to simplify even further...

scootklein2• 15 years ago

the tech is definitely geared in that direction. carpooling is first because we needed it for our own use :)

iodave• 15 years ago

If the tech is geared in that direction, you may want to reconsider the name of the service. I currently live in NYC, and I never really carpool because none of my friends need or have cars.

We do, however, meet up at bars, restaurants, and concerts, and this would be a cool way to get an accurate headcount for things like that. Very cool stuff, man!

geekfactor2• 15 years ago

In terms of monetization, this would translate nicely to an iOS/Android app, for one.

michaelschade2• 15 years ago

Looks great.

From what I can gather, the carpooling is done on a recurring basis, where it messages you every week day. I'd love to see a single use option.

My friends and I carpool all the time, but it's neither for school nor work. So, while a service like this would be extremely helpful (the process has gotten smoother for us, but it's still somewhat a hassle to coordinate), we would only have a use for it if we can initiate a carpool group on an as-needed basis. I'm thinking an interface where the service persists the group itself (names and numbers), but only sends out carpool messages when one of the group members requests it.

I suspect that this would also help with user acquisition since recurring services that text you can scare users away, especially if they're unsure about the service and want to give it a quick try.

Also: given that the service, as it is right now, does seem to be a recurring thing, you might want to add some information that makes it clear if/how you can leave a carpool group at any time. I wouldn't want to submit my number if I'm subscribing to a lifetime of carpooling reminders that I may no longer want.

I'll be keeping an eye on this project!

stevenklein2• 15 years ago

Thanks for the tip! And as-needed usage is an interesting idea -- definitely something we'll discuss.

mitalp• 15 years ago

Would love to start carpooling. Looking forward to using this!

mrpollo• 15 years ago

Maybe the revenue will come from a carpooling discovery standpoint, where you find people that have a big car where you can ride, or people to help you pay for gas

MaxGabriel• 15 years ago

Take a look at Jason Shen (and others)' startup, Ridejoy. Its geared towards ride sharing, not carpooling, but uses the business model you're talking about

http://ridejoy.com/

geekfactor2• 15 years ago

This is a great idea and initial execution. Consider K12 carpooling as well.

I've got kids in middle and high school, and in our community most of the kids get to school and home via carpools. My wife did most of the driving, and it was a perpetual headache for her. She'd forget when it was her day, kids would get sick and need to cancel pickup, or kids would decide to walk home. Parents would trade driving slots and then no one else would know who to contact when things 'came up'.

We're not carpooling this year, but she would have loved group messaging (msg parents, msg kids, msg all) and the roll call features. She also would have appreciated it if you guys kept track of who was driving and if she got a text message 30 minutes before it was her turn to drive.

Congrats!

stevenklein2• 15 years ago

Ah an interesting segment we didn't really consider (parents driving others' kids). Thanks for the feedback and would you mind if we could ask you follow up questions in the future?

k33n• 15 years ago

Love the idea, but the name is going to limit your market reach (if this is actually the final name).

rhplus• 15 years ago

Suggestion: don't use the iPhone for screenshots. I say this because I saw its chrome on the homepage and my immediate thought was that I'd have to get everyone in my carpool to own an iPhone and download an app (which isn't damn simple).

Perhaps show it running on a simple device, i.e. a stylized or even cartoony phone instead.

michaelschade2• 15 years ago

To that end, also give consideration to a screenshot of a (or, similarly, a stylized/cartoony) browser on Google Voice or a similar service. Don't even have to have a phone to easily carpool, then.

moustachio• 15 years ago

Nice use of bootstrap.

ken• 15 years ago

OK, it seems like an interesting concept, but I'm totally lost. Maybe my thoughts will be helpful.

Is it an iPhone-only thing? (It looks like an iPhone thing, but there's no app store link.) Is it a service which uses iPhone text messaging for its user interface? A smart phone thing, or a cell phone thing? I've clicked around every page here (short of actually registering) and I can't tell if I'm even technically able to use this.

Is it just for people I work with, or for people I know, or will it be hooking me up with strangers? Will it always be the same group?

The "How it works" page is pretty sparse: it looks like just a feature list, not an explanation. I was expecting something that takes me from "step 1, I'm sitting at home in front of my computer looking at damnsimplecarpooling.com" to "step 10, somebody is dropping me off at work". (All I'm getting from the screenshots is that I have to buy an iPhone and type "y-e-s" a lot.)

I guess I could probably figure some of this out if I actually register, but I'm not giving away my phone number to an unknown service just to find out what it does.

Promoting something as "damn simple" works great if it's something that's generally known to be complex, but carpooling is already pretty simple. I can just send email to everybody I work with (or post a message on Facebook) that says "Who wants to carpool from X to Y every morning at 7:20?". You should paint a picture for the potential user: how's this going to help me?

Show HN: Damn Simple Carpooling

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