For some reason I’m subscribed to their newsletter, and a few news items came over the transom.

First, they’ll be opening up a DC office to lobby federal, state, and local agencies to adopt their technology.  The guy who runs it is named Jason Conley, and, apparently, he used to work for the Dept. of Homeland Security. Scary.

Even scarier?  You can even pick up “ghosts” along route.  I quote from the email:

“Ghosts are simulated riders that request transport as you drive along your favorite routes. They are easy to recognize by their names, which always end in “RIP”. You can pick up, drop off and rate ghost riders as you would with real people. The only difference is that the ghosts don’t pay with real money.

Currently, the areas where most ghosts have been spotted include Washington D.C., New Jersey and Miami.”

About what I’d expect from a former DHS guy (just kidding).  In all seriousness, this might just take off.

The first one, a little bit of overkill if you ask me, was designed by an Irish company called Avego.  From the looks of it, people who are willing to share rides have to drive around with their phones on the dashboard, and an online interface allows people who need a lift to find vehicles close-by, even if they don’t have a phone themselves.  Neat idea, but at 30 cents a mile, the business model strikes me as, well, un-American.

The Avego rules clearly state “Radios, if on, play jazz, classical music or “mild” news. Avoid talk radio.” That seems a little strict to me, I don’t know of any taxis that have that rule.

The other services seems to have developed a little more traction in San Francisco.  Even if their website kind of sucks, Carticipate looks like it has the advantage over Avego because of it’s simplicity: instead of having to remember to have your phone on all the time, you post, Craigslist-style, what you’ve got and search for what you need.  Plus, it’s free.

Has anyone out their used either of these apps?  A penny (or 30 cents) for your thoughts.