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MVP Business Logics
Our MVP is an app that pulls people who have similar flight times into carpool groups so that they can split the cost of the ride to the airport and spend substantially less money to get to the airport than other existing transportation methods.
To ensure that an MVP can be easily achieved, the product will largely rely on Uber/REST API for rideshare logistics. Once the MVP is deemed feasible, additional features can be added to the product, and product can be designed to include ride options such as designating users who are willing/capable to drive, hiring professional drivers, or integrating the app with other providers (Facebook events, etc).
The steps to use the app are as follows:
Upon opening the app, user will be prompted to enter login information. If user does not already have an account, the app will have an option to sign up and create a new account using a ucsd.edu email.
App will display a calendar. The user will pick the day corresponding to their flight, and the app will display a list of departures taking off on the selected day. If user’s preferred departure time is not there, the user can manually enter their own preferred departure time and the app will confirm the newly entered time.
The app will then group users who selected the same time slots together in a chatroom where they can coordinate the ride and exchange information with other users. (Preferably within a close range so that pick-up will not take a long time) The app will keep up-to-date ride information displayed in the chat.
After the group is finalized (either because it is a week before departure, or the vehicle is at full capacity), the app will confirm the departure time, suggesting new departure times in the event that traffic is anticipated or if flight times have changed to ensure on-time arrival. Ride times will be calculated to ensure all riders arrive at the airport at least 1 hour before their flight. Users will agree on a departure time and confirm the trip.
Once departure time has been chosen, the app will relay all passenger locations through Google Maps API to generate an efficient route which will help determine the sequence of pick-up. A checklist of passengers to pick up in order will be generated and be viewable by all passengers in the group.
A preliminary ride request to Uber is generated on the day of departure, and the app will take the request information and display an estimate of the cost of the trip, as well as a button that links to the Uber app. The sequence of passenger pick-up is separated into individual Uber trips (by the same driver) to simplify the fare-splitting process. The current passenger to be picked up will pay the cost of the ride from the previous passenger to the current passenger’s location.
Each time a passenger is picked up, the passenger will mark themselves as picked up on the checklist in the app. If a user cannot be reached or failed to show up, passengers can report the event and continue to next pick-up.
Once all passengers have been accounted for, the ride heads to LAX, and cost will be adjusted if any passengers failed to show up.
As mentioned above, the pick-up sequence will be separated into individual Uber trips to simplify the paying process. Each passenger will pay their own portion of the Uber ride from the previous passenger to the current passenger’s location.
Once the last passenger is picked up, one passenger will confirm with the Uber to head to LAX and split the cost of the ride to the airport using the fare-splitting function in Uber directly in the Uber app.