Efficient Spatial Data Management for Enabling True Ride-Sharing

This data management project aims to examine ride-sharing as a model of a complex decision system that can be optimised to deliver better outcomes. Popular ride-sharing apps have quickly evolved into ride-sourcing services that are comparable to calling a taxi on a mobile phone. Such arrangements miss many of the key benefits of true ride-sharing for the society. The project will model incentives by helping people agree on points of interest rather than directly seeking trips from others to set destinations. It also aims to introduce privacy-aware dynamic matching of sharers, and expand to transportation at large, to generate new shared transportation services. The expected outcome of this project is to elevate today’s taxi-like ride-sharing services to true ride-sharing arrangements. This is expected to provide benefits such as reduced traffic and emissions, as well as addressing parking issues and other traffic problems.