As some of you know, I'm a big fan of the current Web 3.0 business model. The model connects people with demands to people with supplies. There's a small transaction fee and, bam, done. The beauty is that there's always a need, at varying amount of fees people are willing to pay. And there is always a supply, also priced at varying levels to meet the need. Without those variations, it's hard to make the exchange.
So I signed up with RelayRides in February, but didn't hear from them until late July. I finally got around to setting up the RelayRides' installation of the remote entry device in my car. On the technical end, the way it works is that users get a card that they "badge" themselves into the car. Only users who reserved the car via the website will have an activated card for that car, and only for the duration of the reservation. The car's key is located in the car. It is impossible for anyone to just use the car key without authorization by breaking into the car and using the key.
In fact, I love relayrides just for the increased safety it offers. GPS tracking (I don't get to see where the car goes, but relayrides keeps track of where the car is at all times), remote ignition kill for unauthorized use of the car, sensors to determine speed, acceleration... it's like an airplane's blackbox.
How does it work? Users, who are relayrides members, are vetted to determine that they are capable drivers. They get a card, much like a credit card, but without the magnetic strip. The user goes online, finds a car that they like, book it for the time period of interest and go to the car. My car is different than many others in that I use on-street parking, which means it could be anywhere in a 4-block (or more!) radius of my home. In any case, when the user (which includes me) arrives at the car, the driver waves the card next to the relayrides card reader located at the lower left front windshield. That unlocks the car and tells relayrides that the user has accessed the car. The user gets in, puts key into ignition (I have a Prius, but I need to stick the key fob into the keyport nonetheless; no more just pushing the I/O button alone), turns on engine as usual and off the user goes.
So far, in the past 3 weeks, I've had about 6 users, about one every other day. They've all returned the car to a very nice parking spot, returned it as clean as they took it, which is to say "urban clean". Ok, all except the last user. He managed to, apparently, drive the car through some trees and brushes so that the front looked like it hit a deer or something (no dents, but the red markings look like blood). The rear right fender popped out of place, which I fixed with a forceful push. The parking brake pedal's rubber foot pad came off (WTF?), but I also managed to replace it back to its location. All in all, not a good user and I'm sure his chances of borrowing someone else's car has gone down the tubes. I doubt he's still a member.
On the other hand, I made about $230 over the three weeks. That's not bad.
Who should consider using this service? Those who don't drive regularly would be great candidates. I drive the car about once a week. The other six days it sits idle. Might as well get some use into it. To those who suggest that the additional wear and tear isn't worth the extra money, let me say that makes no mathematical sense. I used to drive the car daily when I lived in a car-centric area of the peninsula. Now that I drive once a week and others take it out for a drive once every other day, the car is basically being driven less often than what I used to put on the car. There's only so many hours in a week and there's no way the car will be driven 168 hours in a week. That just won't happen.
Is this service great? Pretty good, I'd say. Keeps the engine lubed by running it once in a while. And it helps out those who don't have a car (or have rented out their car on relayrides). It's great for the city as it removes the demand for parking and car usage.
Go for it!
So I signed up with RelayRides in February, but didn't hear from them until late July. I finally got around to setting up the RelayRides' installation of the remote entry device in my car. On the technical end, the way it works is that users get a card that they "badge" themselves into the car. Only users who reserved the car via the website will have an activated card for that car, and only for the duration of the reservation. The car's key is located in the car. It is impossible for anyone to just use the car key without authorization by breaking into the car and using the key.
In fact, I love relayrides just for the increased safety it offers. GPS tracking (I don't get to see where the car goes, but relayrides keeps track of where the car is at all times), remote ignition kill for unauthorized use of the car, sensors to determine speed, acceleration... it's like an airplane's blackbox.
How does it work? Users, who are relayrides members, are vetted to determine that they are capable drivers. They get a card, much like a credit card, but without the magnetic strip. The user goes online, finds a car that they like, book it for the time period of interest and go to the car. My car is different than many others in that I use on-street parking, which means it could be anywhere in a 4-block (or more!) radius of my home. In any case, when the user (which includes me) arrives at the car, the driver waves the card next to the relayrides card reader located at the lower left front windshield. That unlocks the car and tells relayrides that the user has accessed the car. The user gets in, puts key into ignition (I have a Prius, but I need to stick the key fob into the keyport nonetheless; no more just pushing the I/O button alone), turns on engine as usual and off the user goes.
So far, in the past 3 weeks, I've had about 6 users, about one every other day. They've all returned the car to a very nice parking spot, returned it as clean as they took it, which is to say "urban clean". Ok, all except the last user. He managed to, apparently, drive the car through some trees and brushes so that the front looked like it hit a deer or something (no dents, but the red markings look like blood). The rear right fender popped out of place, which I fixed with a forceful push. The parking brake pedal's rubber foot pad came off (WTF?), but I also managed to replace it back to its location. All in all, not a good user and I'm sure his chances of borrowing someone else's car has gone down the tubes. I doubt he's still a member.
On the other hand, I made about $230 over the three weeks. That's not bad.
Who should consider using this service? Those who don't drive regularly would be great candidates. I drive the car about once a week. The other six days it sits idle. Might as well get some use into it. To those who suggest that the additional wear and tear isn't worth the extra money, let me say that makes no mathematical sense. I used to drive the car daily when I lived in a car-centric area of the peninsula. Now that I drive once a week and others take it out for a drive once every other day, the car is basically being driven less often than what I used to put on the car. There's only so many hours in a week and there's no way the car will be driven 168 hours in a week. That just won't happen.
Is this service great? Pretty good, I'd say. Keeps the engine lubed by running it once in a while. And it helps out those who don't have a car (or have rented out their car on relayrides). It's great for the city as it removes the demand for parking and car usage.
Go for it!
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