An electronic Car Pooling platform was created by the Polytechnic School of the University of Thessaly, in order to serve the needs of students, professors and the rest of the institution's staff.
“At the University of Thessaly, there are many people (professors, other staff, students) who travel frequently to and from the cities of the University and who, for different reasons, would like to travel with others. So, at the initiative of the Deanship of the Polytechnic School of the University of Thessaly, we organized an online Car Pooling application, an electronic platform, which we called UthPool. UthPool aims to facilitate communication between drivers and other members of the University Community who wish to travel with them (currently to and from Volos),” explains Pantelis Skayiannis, professor at the University of Thessaly, dean of the Polytechnic School, to APE-MPE.
Through this platform, each member of the University can log in with their codes to find travel companions for the specific trip they intend to take, either as a guide or as a fellow traveler.
After declaring whether they are a driver or a passenger, they specify on the map the route they intend to take and the times. The system also records if another driver or would-be passenger wants to take a similar route, and puts them in touch via phone and email.
Because the system is aimed at a specific community and because travel requests are recorded, the system is also considered completely secure. Beyond that, the arrangements are theirs exclusively for all the details.
The electronic platform was built by Orestis Meikopoulos, Computer and Network Engineer, and Manolis Vavalis, professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Thessaly, while George Kalaouzis, also a computer engineer, made useful observations in the final phase.
With this platform, the Polytechnic School offers, according to Mr. Skayannis, a service to the University Community that I think will have a positive response. It is something modern, tested, useful and enjoyable.
A "tested" idea
The idea of people moving together is not new. We have invented mass transportation (buses, trains, etc.) and private transportation (cars, taxis). However, the pressing needs for new ways of managing people's movements with existing technological means have also brought about new forms of movement management around the world.
Such forms are car sharing (many people share a car - Car Sharing with various forms of ownership), and shared transportation (many people travel in the car of an owner-driver - Car Pooling).
Car Pooling, explains Mr. Skayiannis, which is used internationally on a large scale, could be a very interesting case for Greece.
The reasons, he says, are many: both the pleasure of being with others on a long journey, such as on a trip, and the limitation of traffic congestion (and exhaust emissions), especially in urban travel. The latter, in cities like Los Angeles, has been a serious problem, and it is prohibited to circulate a car with a single passenger in special lanes on urban highways.
Source: nooz.gr
