I have been thinking of a module that could be created on Drupal to promote car sharing, or car pooling. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to complete it, at least for this year, so I thought I would throw in a project proposal.
The basic background idea would be something along the lines of the module being used by a website that has a number of participants who travel to the same destination. Examples are universities, colleges, workplaces. Even better examples would be music festivals.
The website would require people who sign up to create an account with their location. It could get them to pinpoint their location on a map, or select a town. The users could then socially interact with other people who live in the same are and are attending the same location, in order to arrange a car share.
I think this module could be potentially huge, if you can develop it and get places like music festivals involved so that they encourage attendees to share transport. With growing awareness of the carbon-footprint of travelers to large events, it would be a great tool to promote green-transport.
What does everyone think, or is there already a module that kind of does this? I would be happy to consider being a mentor for this, although I have no previous experience!
Comments
Interesting idea...
I think this is could be a very useful tool, but I wonder if it's best as an install profile, rather than a module. Could you list some of the functionalities that would be required for the module and look around for modules that you might be able to leverage?
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
Are profiles allowed?
On a larger scale, would it be possible for a student to contribute an Install profile (or even a theme for that matter) for GSOC?
Aaron Winborn
Drupal Multimedia (my book, available now!)
AaronWinborn.com
Advomatic
Yep
I remember two years ago we had two themes, but I don't remember about last year.
So, no this shouldn't be an issue. As long as it's in contrib, it's good.
I think so...
I'm pretty sure that there were install profiles in previous GSoCs.
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
ZivTech: Illuminating Technology
This could be useful during
This could be useful during the GSoC summit!
I'm glad people can see the
I'm glad people can see the use of such a tool.
It could be implemented as an install profile, I guess. I would be looking for the following functionality
I think that covers if. Please let me know if you can think of other useful features and what modules could perform such tasks. If an install profile is possible, then do you think it has enough depth to be considered as a GSoC contribution?
Thanks
Alun
good idea
Interesting Idea. The user can be search for nearest people using LBS(Location Based System). LBS is a hot research topic these days. Good idea for GSoc 2010. I also very interesting on the topic.
Thanks,
M.A.Mohamed
University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka.
I have a basic website
I have a basic website patched together from a few years ago that works like this idea.
It uses Geocoding to get coordinates for a persons address, then has a search algorithm to identify people within a certain distance from you or your waypoints. I would be able to support a student doing this by providing the bare bones to work from.
Geocoding also can be used
Yap, Geocoding also can be used. This process can be useful in finding associated geographic coordinates such as zip code, postal code, etc. It will be a useful tool after successfully implemented to socially interact people.
Thanks,
M.A.Mohamed
University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka.
PublicBookings
Actually the PublicBookings module might be a pretty good starting point for this. With the proper permissions it can be set up to do much of what you propose here. If some functionality is still missing you could write a submodule for this specific purpose.
How about just a patch?
I am sick of seeing so many modules that do the same or very similar, how about we just submit a patch to an existing module?
http://arborwebdevelopment.com
@sk33lz Maybe I'm missing
@sk33lz Maybe I'm missing them, but where are your patches? I'm sick of hearing about why similar modules shouldn't be allowed from people who aren't contributing patches or modules.
MERCI (Manage Equipment Reservations, Checkout and Inventory) was developed after looking at what c.lam had done on BookingsAPI/PublicBookingsAPI for his GSoC project. While he roughed out some nice features, the original code was limited to a specific content type. We realized it was going to be difficult to get it to do what we needed, but were still considering building on that API. It wasn't until after we talked to c.lam and understood his time limitations with school that we decided to develop MERCI from scratch to serve our specific needs. tirsales has definitely taken Bookings API in a great direction, but is it really being used?
What about a GSoC project to merge these two modules back together? Basically help finish tirsales Bookings API rewrite and convert MERCI into just a UI that leverages/extentends Bookings API.
Happy to help :)
Well - I'd be happy to mentor/co-mentor a GSoC project and I'd be more then happy to merge Bookings API and MERCI. In fact I would be more then happy to merge those two whether in a GSoC project or apart from it ;)
I'm not sure whether this wouldn't be too much to ask for GSoC, but I'd gladfully support any part of it. I'd also support the proposition of wmostrey.
Participating
Im interesting in contributing this project as a student. As i mentioned earlier i have done some researches on finding people within a certain distance. It may be useful for this project.
There is actually a Drupal
There is actually a Drupal project going on now (not yet released but I know the creator) that does exactly this for the purpose of coordinating conferences. I know that the creator needs some development work and assistance, so I am going to contact him and see if he can't perhaps turn this into a good project proposal.
Carpool module for events
Thanks for the intro heyrocker --
VerdantEvent is the beginnings of a company building event websites with a heavy emphasis on greening, hoping to release a carpool module as soon as we write it. I've been playing with a design that I had hoped but failed to have ready for SF DrupalCon at http://greeneventsguide.org/carpoolmodule/share/ride/map Our first version is aiming towards events like the various Drupal conferences that have people signing up for a single (but possibly multi-day) event, assuming that there is a profile.
Working Together / Summer of Code
I'd be happy to hand off whatever I have to a summer of code person/team, and to be a mentor -- but I'm finding myself moving away from being a developer into running the business side, so it would be great to have another mentor who's more familiar with contributing Drupal modules.
Verdant Event started at a Startup Weekend, and we're looking for at least one more half-time+ competent Drupal developer and one ninja-adviser to join as founding partners -- if anyone out there wants to help me write the Drupal carpool module for DrupalCons now, or wants to learn more about joining the business and developing + mentoring the carpool module and more together, please let me know!
Overall direction:
The non-tech issues of a "carpool module" are complex ... lots of events have very different needs: some events have single start and end times, people who live two hours from a multiday conference might commute or might stay over, instant carpooling vs pre-planned, etc. There are two main variants I can think of: a configurable module for a conference that has its own website, and a module that provides simpler tools for each of many events on a calendar on one website. Businesses add a couple more layers (repeating vs single dates, last-minute changes) and colleges add lots more and would work much better if integrated with class schedules automatically. Churches/houses-of-worship are also good fits (and in some ways easier). I'd be interested to hear people's ideas for use-cases here...
* I wrote carpool software for festivals & conferences in Perl about seven years ago, for SpaceShare. Getting festivals to try it has been a lot of work. We had plans to work with churches and colleges next; things went too slow for typical underfunded-business reasons rather than tech reasons.
I have seen similar requests since at least 2003
I've been hopeful to find something useful for vehicle resource utilization optimization but haven't yet found it. I did find numerous requests and suggestions though, since at least 2003 and specifically for Drupal.
Clearly, there is a desire and use for this functionality. I would say that this kind of thing could really put Drupal in the news, if the world were suddenly able to optimize transportation using Drupal site(s).
Aloha
Possible Projects / disambiguating carpool and carshare modules
All the back and forth might be overwhelming a potential summer coder / coding team... there is definitely more than one project here. Are any students out there considering building this? To start, carpooling and carsharing are completely different.
Carsharing = where a community owns a set of cars in common and needs to schedule who can drive which car when, would possibly use MERCI and Bookings. I could imagine this being useful for a company or a city with a shared set of vehicles, or a community that wanted to share cars (see http://www.zipcar.com/ ) Typically use would be a website built primarily around this module... a company would build a site to coordinate their carsharing.
** tirsales offered to mentor above
Ridesharing = Carpooling. And this could again splinter into many different projects (eg. regional commuter sites, city-to-city, and events). Alun's first post leaned towards Event carpooling -- which I think is both achievable and would see widespread use. Typically use would be an event website that includes this module as an add-on... a festival or a conference would have a website, perhaps have registration, and then add this module to help people carpool to the event. Other variants (I think different modules) such as a college carpool module might be much more complex.
** I'd be very happy to mentor this and have preliminary work you could use (or ignore), with a first-focus on building tools useful for carpooling to Drupal conferences [ideally, co-mentor]
Note that the deadline for
Note that the deadline for proposals has passed so while I certainly don't want to dissuade anyone from continuing to work on an interesting project, this is no longer applicable for Summer of Code.
modules for transportation resource scheduling / sharing
I am not a programmer, but some or all of the following modules might be usable for accomplishing the objective stated in the node and subject.
http://drupal.org/project/gmap
http://drupal.org/project/publicbookings
http://drupalmodules.com/module/tagmap
http://drupal.org/project/schedule
http://drupalmodules.com/module/openlayers
http://drupalmodules.com/module/time-map
http://drupalmodules.com/module/make-meeting-scheduler
http://drupal.org/project/location
http://drupal.org/project/mappingkit
http://drupal.org/project/openlayers
http://drupal.org/project/nodemap
http://drupalmodules.com/module/timeline
These and related modules for rating providers and riders.
http://drupalmodules.com/module/user-points
http://drupalmodules.com/module/fivestar
http://drupal.org/project/votingapi
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Sketching out carpool module, advice and testers sought
I'm working on a carpool / rideshare module now, intended for events like DrupalCons where each attendee creates an account on a Drupal site for a one-time conference or similar event.
Please take a look and help me figure out the right direction! It relies heavily on other modules, and is flexible using those modules (change cck, views or taxonomy to change how your implementation works, without needing to code anything.)
I'll create a project page on Drupal.org soon, but for now sign-in and create a post at:
http://greeneventsguide.org/carpoolmodule/share/ride/map
Thanks!
Stephen
Stephen
Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to try and contribute.
I will check it out and provide feedback when I am able.
Aloha,
Eric
some thoughts
Perhaps paths are possible in Google Maps wherever applicable? That might be easier to use and more human friendly than GPS coordinates.
For example:
To see what routes are available (with a green path line) and what are desired (with a purple path line).
This would allow people to explore their options. Maybe an existing route is workable for part of the way, they just need to get to the nearest point along the existing.
I like the Organize column and the mouse over details that show up on items in that column. Perhaps "Preferred Routes" could be more intuitive and you might be able to use Voting API to provide something less English specific, more intuitive and pleasant looking than the words and question marks.
I might recommend something more generic than "Depart after Conference" to:
Departure Time: with today's date already filled in, to lead users to what kind of data and ui is available.
It's good to have a Details section. I assume this can be used to include important conditions, like maybe a person wishes to take along a large parcel, a companion animal, or is a smoker. The smoker / non smoker thing should definitely have it's own category so people are encouraged to consider this point. Additionally, if the driver prefers / requires a donation, likes to play loud music the entire time, or have the windows fully open on a freeway, has / does not have a/c, eats / drinks smelly stuff, has stinky feet, drives in the nude, etc.
Maybe a profile could exist for users such that they could say, "I prefer to see loud music players at the bottom of possible routes", and "Singing drivers / passengers are OK" then the results would be organized for them.
In the Location section, is that for the starting, ending or both points? What about allowing for multiple possible waypoints, so that one trip could accomplish several objectives for one or more persons?
Please don't be overwhelmed by my suggestions. Some of them may be rather advanced. I think it's great that you have started to make something happen!
Aloha
great carpool ideas, keep them coming!
This is a great collection of ideas (even if most won't go into v1) -- I think that for a single event (think DrupalCon), simple is probably key? At SpaceShare I find that the more questions we ask, the more people just skip them all.
I'd love help on the wording, which is very complex to get right: "Departure Time" could be when you leave your house to go the conference, or when you leave the conference to go home. (The best times for matching purposes while asking few questions are when people arrive at the conference or leave from it, so that long-distance travelers can match short-distance.) "Depart after Conference" could maybe be "Depart after Event" or "Depart from Event." I might create a settings page for that, too. The waypoints and such should mostly not matter for an event [?]
Really need a conference planner or two to try setting this up and looking at with specific needs in mind.
Have you seen a Drupal implementation of paths in Google Maps? That seems tricky to me -- if I post I'm going from A to B, and Google posts a suggested route but I'm planning on going a different way?
Keep the ideas coming!
questions
Why limit to one time events and conference type events?
You could potentially get fundage from govt and other institutions for your endeavor if it were a bit more flexible.
Maybe put a project fundage request up on a site like this:
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://www.chipin.com/
that's another project altogether...
there will always be a place for event carpooling, the needs a bit different than other types of carpooling (city-to-city or commute). I'd be excited to find some partners and work on the much larger projects, though others are already doing that. Especially different is the drop-in module intended for many event planners to each use their own, vs developing a specialized carpool site for a region or country (just one site).
Module
I think the best way would be to define a basic carpooling module (or installation profile) that could be specialized for events.
Im thinking about the idea for quite some time, and interested to get ist started if I find a first client... But a Drupal module that could be plugged in for Drupal Campsites, music festivals or even Business-Sites who like to make it easy for their employees to commute would be great =).
Do you know of any other projects in the Drupal space?
Karsten
Carpool module for drupal camps etc -- help me test & improve it
It's almost ready for live use. Right now (Sept 21, 2011) we're testing at http://dev.badcamp2011.gotpantheon.com/share/ride/map There's a big red link on the page, send me suggestions, or put them here.
Soon it will be at http://2011.badcamp.net/
The module itself is in a sandbox at http://drupal.org/sandbox/stephen_Verdant/1161014
(I'm interested in talking with anyone thinking of starting a business in this space who might want to work together, too.)
Cheers,
Stephen
I know this thread is really
I know this thread is really old, but @kvantomme just post a call for contributors to http://pronovix.com/blog/case-vehicle-sharing-distribution-drupal that might be of interest to anyone still working in this space
Status
Hi, ive read all of this, have you done anything? im starting a company in Peru and it would be great if someone can help, please!
Ridesharing module with deliveries!
I have started working on this type of module and plan to release it to the community.
Not exactly as described above, but a small to medium sized donation would help make this happen in days rather than months.
Thanks!
https://www.gofundme.com/z8qq9954