

Amid concern over fuel costs, parking and air quality, it’s time to reconsider carpooling. The new system called Dynamic Carpool offers the pros of ride-sharing without the cons.
Now in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol business park, the mobile-phone-based system links riders and drivers in a flexible, hassle-free manner.
“For the first time, we offer real-time matching of trip requests and offers in an ‘eBay’ manner,” says Antti Hannula, CEO for Ecolane. The system enables commuters to decide each morning whether they want to share a ride, and when. The system takes care of the rest, including payments, security and ensuring that no journey is extended by more than a few minutes.
“We have three patents pending and are expanding to other markets in 2005,” he says.