This week’s App of the Week is SideCar, the community ridesharing service that connects people who need rides with drivers who have extra space in their cars. It works via apps on Android and iPhone/iPad.
SideCar recently expanded to Seattle from its original market of San Francisco. Andru Edwards of GearLive.com, our guest on this week’s GeekWire radio show and podcast, explained the app on the show. (Listen below.)
The company vets drivers using video interviews. They’re not professional licensed cab drivers, and they could very well be your neighbor. The company describes it as “spontaneous carpooling.” People who use the service pay what they want for the ride, using the app. The driver gets to keep 80 percent.
As my colleague John Cook mentioned during the show, it’s part of a trend of apps that create a market for excess capacity in people’s lives, whether it’s extra space to sit a dog for the weekend or an extra room in your house.
Andru also mentions RelayRides, which is another spin on car sharing, but it lets people use your car when you’re not there, like a crowdsourced ZipCar. John joked that he’s thinking about using RelayRides so someone will take his 1992 Honda Accord and never come back.
Here’s the audio of this week’s segment:
Editor’s note: Sidecar is a sponsor of the upcoming GeekWire Gala.
