After a few months of work, we can now announce the launch of the Common Routes app for multiple means of transportation. An application to rationalize the use of our cars and so reduce their environmental impact.
This is a car sharing App, where you can currently publish three different options:
- Travel offer - Where someone can announce a journey, offering spare seats to others interested in travelling to the same location or another one along the way.
- Travel request - Where the users can express their need to travel from location A to location B and ask for transportation if someone is travelling in that direction.
- Package send request - If you need to send packages to a certain destination, you can fill out the form to publish your need and ask for transportation.
The first step in order to start using it is to download the app here (Android) and register as a new user. There you will find the details of how to communicate with the person that offers/requests the journey in which you are interested. As you can guess, the reasons for doing it may be varied: help out your friends, share a nice chat on the way, meet new people, minimize pollution... and also share expenses, maybe by means of paying a fare... in FAIR, of course ;)
The app has been launched as a pre-alpha version, which means that, although there is no particular reason that you should find any bugs, they may appear; also the app may be improved and changed in the future according to the ideas and needs of its users. Having said that, we encourage any user or programmer interested in the further development of this software to join the Telegram group that is working on this task.
Other possibilities related to FairCoop Transportation
Self-employment
We all need some form of transportation in our everyday lives and this has inspired some FairCoopers to take advantage of this opportunity in order to earn themselves some FairCoins.
Some examples:
- 'FairTaxi' or 'FairCab' are some of the suggested names of services provided by participants of the FairCoop community and can be easily found on the FairMarket, and now with the Common Routes app, more people can express their need for this kind of service. Here are some examples:
Nico from Athens, who is offering transportation with his electric car in exchange for FairCoins, with the intention of promoting 'electromobility' - using ecological transportation with a lower and cleaner energy consumption, and at the same time providing information about FairCoin and FairCoop to those in need of transport.
Dyorkaef in Novi Sad Local Node is driving FairCoopers around for FairCoins and soon will be registered on FairMarket, providing a transportation service to all who are interested in this kind of circular economy.
- "Rent a FairCar" has not yet been started, but the simplest way to do it would be like this: make contact through FairCoop channels of communication, make a reservation to pick up the car, pay a deposit and sign a liability contract, use the car, and afterwards bring it back or leave it at a designated parking lot. It would be good for both the environment and towards creating a more sustainable economy if the vehicles had electric motors, or any other environmentally friendly system. This can be an opportunity for Rent-a-Car companies to introduce themselves to FairCoin and our values in the FairCoop movement.
Circular Economy
FairCarsharing could also be a first step towards sharing cars for different collective purposes that may arise at the local nodes, helping to facilitate human contact in some areas, as well as promoting self-management of the circular economy inside a single region, or between different ones.
Producers, merchants, cooperatives and all others interested in the trade of goods face the issue of delivery to their areas, which slows down distribution and development of the glocal circular economy within FairCoop. This subject has different aspects to do with legal, shipping, customs and transportation issues that need to be in compliance with the FairCoop principles such as appropriate low-cost forms of ecological transportation. On other hand, law and freight experts will have to make an effort to collect information about possible legislative issues, and also find solutions on what would be the fairest way for individuals or collectives to enjoy coffee, wine, olive oil, or oranges from Italy, Spain, Greece, Serbia, Kurdistan or South America anywhere else on the planet where these products may be needed and are not available yet within our economy.