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Graziotin-Dycapo_opensource_server_protocol_dynamic_carpooling.pdf (1.62 MB)

Dycapo: On the creation of an open-source Server and a Protocol for Dynamic Carpooling

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journal contribution
posted on 2013-06-03, 09:01 authored by Daniel GraziotinDaniel Graziotin

B.Sc. Thesis, October 2010. Supervisor: Dr. Paolo Massa, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento.

Abstract:

Using a private car is a transportation system very common in industrialized countries.
However, it causes different problems such as overuse of oil, traffic jams causing earth
pollution, health problems and an inefficient use of personal time.
One possible solution to these problems is carpooling, i.e. sharing a trip on a private
car of a driver with one or more passengers. Carpooling would reduce the number of cars
on streets hence providing worldwide environmental, economical and social benefits. The
matching of drivers and passengers can be facilitated by information and communication
technologies. Typically, a driver inserts on a web-site the availability of empty seats on
his/her car for a planned trip and potential passengers can search for trips and contact
the drivers. This process is slow and can be appropriate for long trips planned days in
advance. We call this static carpooling and we note it is not used frequently by people
even if there are already many web-sites offering this service and in fact the only real open
challenge is widespread adoption.
Dynamic carpooling, on the other hand, takes advantage of the recent and increasing
adoption of Internet-connected geo-aware mobile devices for enabling impromptu trip opportunities.
Passengers request trips directly on the street and can find a suitable ride in
just few minutes. Currently there are no dynamic carpooling systems widely used. While
adoption is still a key issue, dynamic carpooling offers many open basic challenges related
to the implementation of the technological infrastructure.
This dissertation describes Dycapo, an open-source project for enabling dynamic carpooling
services. After a review of the state of the art and a comparative analysis of
dynamic carpooling issues, the two main components of the project are described, namely
the protocol and the server. Dycapo Protocol is an open REST-based protocol for sharing
trip information among dynamic carpooling clients and servers, taking inspiration from
OpenTrip, a previously proposed data exchange format. Dycapo Server is a prototype
providing web services for dynamic carpooling functionalities, implementing Dycapo Protocol.
Our aim with the release of an open protocol and open source code is to provide
a missing standard and platform that providers of dynamic carpooling services can adopt
and extend.

 

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