Help the Environment while helping Each Other

Overall Picture

Green Car Buddy (GCB) is a client/server iPhone/Web application that facilitates the sharing of parking spots and rides plus a combination of the two. The aim is to reduce costs and environmental impact by sharing resources. By making an appointment with a departer to share a parking spot, the parker minimizes the traffic clogging and polluting activity of searching for parking. Ride sharing means fewer cars on the road, less pollution and lower travel costs.

Park/Ride Sharing
With GCB you can also offer a parking spot plus a ride, with a return ride option. Thus you could give your spot to someone, provide him with a ride to a common destination, and return later to retrieve your own parking spot when the passenger moves his car from it. This can be very attractive in some urban environments where residential street parking is scarce.

Parking Sharing

1. Departer offers a Parking Spot for a specific time and location using the iPhone App or the GCB website.
2. Parker finds this offer using the iPhone app or on the GCB website and reserves the spot.
3. An email or SMS notification of the reservation is sent to Departer together with a description of Parker's car.
4. Departer waits for Parker in his car at the designated departure time. Prior to the appointment, an anonymous communication channel using email and/or SMS messages is activated for communication between the two parties in order to resolve problems if necessary.
5. Parker arrives within 5 minutes of the designated time and receives the parking spot, at which point Departer notes the last 3 characters of Parker's number plate which is used as proof of the handover.
6. Departer's credit (1 or more tokens) is then used to enable him to make use of someone else's parking spot when he is seeking parking.

Note: The use of tokens for parking is NOT required - you can offer your parking spots for 0 tokens if you are not going to be seeking parking yourself.

Parking Sharing FAQ

Why are tokens used for parking spots?
Tokens are used in order to encourage an equal balance between giving and receiving of parking spots. Using tokens, in order to participate on a regular basis, you need to offer up as many parking spots as you receive, making the system self-sustaining.

How do I pay for a spot using tokens before I have earned any?
You can earn parking tokens by referring friends to GCB. You do this by entering their email addresses into the Referals Page (under the Referals Tab). When you enter an email address, if the email does not belong to an existing user, you will be assigned 5 tokens credit when the user registers and enters his or her email address. In this way, we hope to grow GCB virally so that users get as much benefit as possible from it.

Why does the Departer need to record the Parker's number plate?
This is optional, but it is a method employed to verify that you surrendered the parking spot to the parker. If you correctly verify the parker's number plate - done the next time you logon to the system - you will be credited for the parking spot. Otherwise, if the parker says you didn't show up, you will not receive credit. Note: only the last three letters of the number plate are needed for verification.

Why must the Departer be on time and the Parker arrive within 5 minutes of the Departure time?
It is important that the Parker not interfere with traffic by circling or blocking the street while waiting for a Departer. To avoid this, the Departer must be sure to be in his car at the departure time, while the Parker must arrive within a 5 minute time window AFTER the departure time. The 5 minute time window is used to allow for traffic delays and congestion.

What happens if there is a Parker no-show?
If a Parker does not show up within 5 minutes of the departure time, the Departer will receive credit for the parking spot. Parkers who have experienced abuse of this rule by Departers can Ban the Departer - which removes the Departer from their future search results. Banning is done by logging on after the departure event and choosing the Ban option while rating the Departer.

What happens if there is a Departer no-show?
If the Departer is not in his car when you arrive within the 5 minute window, you should move on and look for parking elsewhere. You can consider banning the Departer from your search results list by logging on to the website after the departure event and selecting the Ban option. Unless the Departer records your number plate during verification, he will not receive your tokens for the parking spot.

Ride Sharing

1. Departer offers a Ride for a specific time, location and destination using the iPhone App or the GCB website. A Return Ride can be optionally specified. If required, Departer can require a monetary gas Contribution for the Ride. Departer indicates the maximum number of Passengers that can be accommodated.
2. Passenger finds this offer using the iPhone app or on the GCB website and reserves the Ride.
3. An email, iPhone Push message or SMS notification of the reservation is sent to Departer.
4. Departer meets Passenger at the designated Location and Departure Time. Prior to the appointment an anonymous communication channel using email, iPhone Push or SMS messaging is activated for communication between the two parties in order to resolve problems if necessary.
5. Passenger arrives within 5 minutes of the departure time. If Departer requires a gas Contribution for the ride, the payment is made.
6. If a Return Ride is offered, Passenger arrives back at the Destination point at the designated Return Time.

Park and Ride Sharing

1. The Departer offers a Parking Spot plus Ride for a specific time, location and destination using GCB website or the iPhone App. Park/Ride sharing works by combining the methods for Parking Sharing and Ride Sharing.
2. The Parker/Passenger finds this offer using the website or iPhone App and reserves the Park/Ride offer.
3. An email, iPhone Push message or SMS notification of the reservation is sent to the Departer.
4. The Parker/Passenger arrives within 5 minutes of the Departure Time and parks his car in the Departer's parking spot and joins the Departer for the ride to the designated Destination point.
5 . If a Return Ride is offered, the Parker/Passenger arrives back at the Destination point at the designated Return Time, returns to the Departure Point with Departer where he vacates his car from the parking spot, allowing the Departer to make use of the same parking spot as the Parker/Passenger vacates it.