IBM Global Delivery challenge: Social Transportation to increase efficiency of urban surface transport
Social road transport implies two things: people share vehicles and vehicles share roads. StarLab is a not-for-profit research, development, and production organization dedicated to the propagation of social transport practices. We hope to implement a new form of transit - social transportation, a transportation protocol wherein resources are shared or coordinated to increase the utility, efficiency, or beauty of transportation networks One of StarLab’s implementation of social transportation is called Weeels (http://Weeels.org): it is a cell phone application that facilitates real-time taxi-sharing. Weeels provides a new model for user-driven and efficient “Social Road Transit” by giving riders the ability to order and share livery cabs for immediate pick-up. Using sophisticated matching and GPS technology to coordinate riders and cars, Weeels provides a cheap, easy, gas-efficient, and socially-conscious means for people to get around. As the urban population expands, we hope that Weeels will eventually decrease the number of cars on the road, thereby reducing congestion. Weeels aims to complement existing mass transit options — especially in the outer boroughs, where yellow taxis are hard to find; and during late nights and weekends, when subway service is reduced. Weeels is based in New York City, but we hope to expand in the near future. 
