Crowdsourced taxi service - a theoretical excercise

One possible high tech solution for traffic in a city. Too bad its illegal in some places and possibly dangerous (specially in the phils). Since its possibly dangerous I'm treating this as a theoretical excercise. Oh, and it uses up smartphone 3g data connection and battery for 3g data and gps so it really becomes more theoretical. This probably would become feasible in the Philippines at least a decade from now.

Note: I'm now speculating on how it would work, or how I would do it in theory. Its off the top of my head as it were.


Note: This is based on me reading one article about similar services in the USA.

If you have a car and want to earn some money you sign up to this service. Load the app on your cellphone, the "driver" version of the app. When you are in your car and are not in a hurry, turn 3g data on and gps on your cellphone then sign in on the app and change your status to "available". Now go on your commute

A person who previously signed up to the service who needs a ride turns on his cellphone and GPS and logs in to the app, the "passenger" version. He or she then clicks on "find me a ride". He also specifies his destination. the app uses his GPS and contacts the apps of all drivers nearby who are available. They are informed of the passenger's destination. The app calculates the distance from passenger's pickup point to destination and gives a fixed fee. There is no haggling and no cash transaction. Obviously the fee should be competitive with official taxi services. The first "driver" who clicks "accept" will get the ride and he gets the passenger's username as well as a GPS map showing the route to the passenger. Of course since the drivers are all volunteers who are already by chance on the road, the ones who would accept are the drivers whose final destination is not too far from the passenger's destination. The system records all of this of course. The passenger gets the drivers username and a dynamic map showing the current location of the driver.





Also, the system is designed to allow multiple pickups to improve fuel consumption per passenger, ala car pooling. Passengers that have destinations that are on the projected route and are near each other can be told to walk to a common pickup location. A driver already with a passenger can accept another passenger en route via the app and the current passenger can veto this with his app by paying a fee.

Once the driver and passenger meet the passenger can accept or reject the ride. If rejected the passenger must input in the app why he rejected the ride, like a short mini feedback similar to the one in Ebay. If the passenger accepts, the passenger's  and the driver's cellphone somehow exchange a digital handshake which includes GPS location. This could be via internet, bluetooth or NFC and is of course logged in the system.

After the ride or if the passenger decides to cut short the ride, wherever the passenger decides to get off, GPS is used to calculate the distance travelled and the fee. The fee is transferred from the passenger's account to the driver's account. So a passenger must fill up the account first with load. And of course, the sytem will inform the passenger if his account's balance is below the estimated cost of the ride based on GPS. After the fee is settled, the driver and the passenger are asked to accomplish a feedback form just like on Ebay



Now of course, in the real world there are certain dangers to this such as driver on passenger and vice versa crime.And of course, the system can also be tweaked to make it totally voluntary like carpooling with no fee.

the end

fixated on kilometers per liter?

Times are hard so we have to save money. If you have a car, one of the ways you save money is calculating your km/l performance, i.e. mileage, every time you fill up and find ways to increase it. Yes it helps a lot, but is it the be all and end all? Maybe there is a measurement thats slightly more accurate.

I though that well, since a lot of people are paid in monthly wages, maybe you should be looking at your transport related expenses also in a per month manner. You could measure liters per month or even better money spent on gas per month.

The old km/l is pretty good as it is but there are a times where it can be inaccurate. What if instead of your inner city commute with the traffic jams, you took a long cut that happens to bypass traffic because it uses a long stretch of highway? What if your usual routine involves a route that gets stuck in traffic (to work) and a less than 1km commute with no traffic (maybe to a mall or something) and you decide to walk that < 1 km? Both would negatively affect your km/l values but would decrease the money per month value.

Think about it.


the end

new biofuel re-discovered : butanol

Butanol or (n-Butanol to be precise) is not a new chemical. It used to be distilled in the 1900's for industrial purposes. It turns out it could be a new biofuel

• With 4 carbons, butanol has more energy than ethanol - 25% more energy per unit volume.
• Butanol has a lower vapour pressure and higher flashpoint than ethanol, making it easier to store and safer to handle.
• Butanol is not hygroscopic while ethanol attracts water. Ethanol has to be blended with petrol shortly before use. Butanol can be blended at a refinery without requiring modifications in blending facilities, storage tanks or retail station pumps.
• Butanol can run in unmodified engines at any blend with petrol. Ethanol can only be blended up to 85% and requires engine modification.
• Unlike ethanol, butanol may also be blended with diesel and biodiesel.
• Butanol is less corrosive than ethanol and can be transported using existing infrastructures.

link


Butanol can be made from non food crops. Here's an example, butanol distilled from leftovers of whiskey production.
link

How to Handle Sudden Unintended Acceleration: Video

DO
• Brake. Brake once, don't pump or ride the brakes. This will only heat up the brake pads, potentially overheating them and making them fail. It will take more force than you're used to to make the vehicle stop. Use both feet if you need to.
• Shift. Move the gearshift into neutral. If the throttle is truly stuck, the engine will redline and make a lot of noise, but it won't be damaged. The injection computer will keep it from over-revving. Leaving it running will keep the power brakes an power steering working normally. Obviously, if your car has a manual transmission, simply stepping on the clutch pedal will slow the car.
• Steer. Steer your car to a safe place off the road and away from traffic.

DON'T
• Pump the brakes.
• Shift into park. (Which won't engage at speed anyway.)
• Drag the brakes.
• Shut off the engine. (Well, shut off the engine as a last resort, but it may affect the brakes and steering, which will become heavier, although they'll remain operational.)
in reference to: Video on How to Stop Sudden Unintended Acceleration - Toyota Recall - Popular Mechanics (view on Google Sidewiki)

Does bio-diesel cause sequestration of carbon?

AFAIK semi-pure carbon like charcoal or biochar is not biodegradable or extremely difficult to biodegrade. See here and here and here. Burying such carbon rich solids in soil would result in carbon sequestration.

My hometown is located on a plain with lots of > 2 meter long grass. Now its an El Nino and almost summer time so the grass is dry and fires often occur. At this time of the year, I can often see black biochar on the ground from dry grass fires. The updrafts from the fire lift it up and the wind carries it for kilometers.  You can still see the fine structure of the leaf on it. But it crumbles into black dust if you touch it. Step on it and it mixes with the soil. You probably have carbon sequestration right there. This reminded me of the grey soot from all the diesel jeepneys when I used to live in Manila. It collects quickly on exposed surfaces and clogs up my PC's air filters. Its a little better now that air quality laws were passed.

Like diesel, biodiesel also causes some carbon particulates which end up as dust and soot in the air. Some of it lands on the soil or on the sea and might be incorporated into the soil or as sea sediments. If that happens, then its a form of carbon sequestrations. Biodiesel should be carbon neutral but this might force biodiesel into carbon-negative  territory.

UPDATE:  of course since modern diesle engines produce little soot, the sequestration effect is very small compared to say using diesel to actually MAKE biochar in a dedicated machine then burying the biochar in the ground.

another LED dome light

$4.48 on ebay + 35 pesos. took 35 days to arrive via post. Its  a dome light for my car.

Why locally sold cars are still better than grey-market options

This is an excellent article showing the dangers of buying grey market cars versus locally available cars.

But still, the allure of driving a very uncommon model is still there
in reference to:

"Why locally sold cars are still better than grey-market options"
- Business - Why locally sold cars are still better than grey-market options - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)

the 2010 MINI

OK, I mentioned this car in my previous blog post "why philippine car companies are stupid". This proves my point.

Sticker price is 1.8 - 2.99 million pesos.

pros : styling, nostalgia value

cons: expensive, small, parts

Again, Filipinos are practical. They have to be because we're poor. For 2 million you could go and get a luxury BMW or mercedez benz or a SUV or maybe a prius. Again I expect this to not sell well because style and nostalgia are not enough to sell a car to the majority of filipinos. Sorry MINI, you dont have  bang for the buck.

If you want to make it more attractive, offer it in diesel format, with no change in price.

in reference to: Business - Make mine a MINI - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)

No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP

Like I posted before, philippine car firms are stupid.

The article says there is little infrastructure for CNG. Thats BS IMHO. There are lots of CNG gas stations in metro manila catering to taxis.

The article says there is no demand. BS again IMHO. There's a demand, we just cant afford it. The Philippines is a poor country, DUHHH! Read my previous article HERE in my blog. Filipino people want a car that has both a low running cost AND a low purchase price. Who wouldnt want a Toyota Prius that sips gas? We all want one but the 2 million peso price tag is too much and it takes to bloody long to recoup the investment specially if you dont commute that much anyway. Who except the rich has 2 million pesos lying around? We could take a car loan but the interest will eat up our money.

in reference to:

"No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP"
- Business - No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)

Eco cars for the philippines - what will be successful

For reference here are 2 related posts

A Prius for the Philippines

Why Philippine Car companies are stupid


If you want to sell an electric or hybrid car or whatever eco friendly car in the Philippines you need to pass some criteria. I'll try to post my ideas from the perspective of a normal Filipino car user/buyer.

Lets look at the what I think the target market would be. I think the target market would be the mid to upper middle class like me. I'm a doctor. Any of the lower classes would not be able to afford  it. Either they use public transportation, motorcycles or at best they use > 10 year old second hand cars or locally assembled owner type jeeps.

Only the rich would dare buy an expensive car like the Prius just for its eco friendlyness because the Philippines is a poor country and we have our priorities. Save money over the environment, even if it just covers the short term.

As a member of the middle class, my goals are a balance between initial price of the car versus the money saved in daily operations. If I were say a taxi company or operating a jeepney, then my priorities would be different. In that case the balance would swing towards lower running costs since these types of vehicles have a hack of a lot more mileage per week than a private car. LNG and small diesel engines are currently used for taxis and jeepneys but there are a few electric jeepneys. But even for taxi and jeepney companies, a very very high initial price is not good because credit isnt easy here and a lot of businesses wont risk so much up front for a possible long term payoff. I'd say for a middle class person, around up to 25% more expensive than a comparable normal car would be the limit.

For a jeepney airconditioning is not needed but for a middle class person arriving at work all smelly and sweaty would not do your social and professional life any good. Also related to this is the looks of the car. It cant be too ugly. An ideal eco car would at least look decent, preferably it would not look any different from a regular car. Unfortunately a SUV variant of the eco car would be needed in the philippines because of the bad roads, the flooding and the extra cargo/passenger space which may be useful. But of course some people would be ok with a small 2 seater so there should be a variety of models available.

Maintenance would be a big issue too. For electric cars, lowering initial price and lowering servicing costs by using cheap lead acid batteries would be viable. Modular battery packs would be nice. You could buy a car then if you had extra cash, go for the li-ion battery pack as an extra. If you have to lose some options to lower the price like computer controlled battery charging, regenerative braking and automatic transmission then do it.

Performance on the road would not be too high a priority. Max speed of 110 kph and tepid acceleration would be acceptable if it would mean lower running costs. Compare this to the prius which has the acceleration of a V6 coupled with a high price. Range would depend on the consumer. For electric and hybrid electric vehicles, different battery packs should be available. I personally would be ok with < 50 km per charge.

Small diesel cars (say the size of a Vios or smaller) would be a hit in the Philippines. Low initial cost, readily available fuel and parts, mileage comparable to some other more expensive alternatives. Who cares about the CO2 and particulate emissions as long as the average Filipino saves money. Ok thats not the right attitude but the average filipino is poor and prioritizes budget over the environment.

A Prius for the Philippines

The Prius. WTF was Toyota thinking? Its expensive, around the same price as a mid end luxury car and almost 5x the price of a vios. Look, Toyota, if I was rich enough to afford a Prius I would be rich enough to NOT CARE about the gas bill. And I would rather buy a BMW or Mercedes since the price is the same. Filipinos dont give much thought to the environment because we're poor. We'll gladly stomp all over the greenies if it meant saving a buck. I predict that most people in the Philippines who buy the prius (if any) are more interested in "appearing" green.


I suggest a cheaper version, a PRIUS LITE if you will, with these specs:

* Smaller body, 2 seater if needed.

* Smaller engine. The Prius has a 1.8 liter engine but accelerates like a V6. Who the heck in the Philippines would want to do that? It wastes gas! Just give me a 1 liter engine that accelerates like a 1.3 liter engine. That would be good enough for me.
* Cut down on the expensive electronics. Just have the dashboard flash a big LOW BATT or FULL BATT sign and have the driver manually switch the gas engine on or off.

* Why be gas at all? Go diesel - electric hybrid

* Modular battery pack. Add more or less cells depending on your budget. Also have the option of going lead-acid.

* From the start its a plug in hybrid.

* Typical battery only range would be say 20-50 km, with the aircon on. This is the Philippines. Its hot here. An aircon is a necessity. Anybody that can afford a decent car also has a job or social life that would be affected if they showed up to work sweaty and smelly.

* Manual transmission to lower the price.
* Not more than 1 million pesos in price

Why Philippine Car companies are stupid

Some recent big time mistakes done by Philippine car companies.

WARNING: this is a rant. I do not pretend to be a car expert. This is all my opinion and is based on some personal observations and consultations with a few friends. It also contains sweeping generalizations, mild swearing and mild exaggerations for shock and comedy purposes. So if you have information that can explain some of the stupid decisions car companies have made, or if I made some mistakes, then feel free to comment.

NOTE: by "philippine car companies"  I dont mean companies that were founded by and owned by filipinos, I mean major car companies that sell cars in the philippines.

Lets start with the new Austin mini and the new  VW beetle. These 2 are remakes of cult classics so fans of the original who are now grown up might want to buy them. Unfortunately, that looks like the full extent of the market. These 2 did not sell well. Not sure if they were grey market cars or if an official distributor exists. Anyway these 2 had big disadvantages. Parts and support are always a problem in the philippines unless the car is one of the Big japanese or german brands. Pero the main problem is price performance ratio. These are not large or fast cars and they cost a lot. For almost the same price it would be much better to get a more ordinary looking BMW or Mercedes Benz. Filipinos are practical and wont buy a car just on sentimental value or cuteness.

Next, small diesel cars or lack thereof. AFAIK in Europe Austin mini sized diesel cars exist. AFAIK the smallest brand new diesel car you can buy in the philippines would be a ford escape 2.0 liter. If someone could offer a diesel subcompact sedan (something like a Vios or City) with a ~1.5L diesel with a sub 1 million peso price tag, it would sell like hotcakes. Even better would be a really small diesel car like the Suzuki celerio. Aside from being practical, filipinos are poor. Afaik one reason the honda CRV won over the Rav 4 was its lower price.  1 liter of unleaded gas costs 39.9 something pesos and Diesel costs around 10 pesos less than that. Add to that the generally higher mileage of diesel and you know why diesel cars are cheap to operate. On a related note, why the F*** dont the expedition and other large cars come in diesel format?

Next - Cars need to go on a Diet. The Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic started out as small cheap sedans available in 1.3 liter versions. They then started to grow bigger and bigger, both in size and engine displacement. Finally they got overpriced out of their market segment and the Toyota Vios and the Honda City had to be invented. As similar thing also happened to the Suzuki vitara - becoming the Grand vitara. The small SUV segment was taken over by the Jimny but it is too small to take over the vitara's place. WTF are those people thinking. Only a few filipinos need more horsepower. Remember that the Philippines is a poor country. Special mention to the Ford Expeditions that are now gathering dust in their owner's garages or are being sold dirt cheap. A SUV or sedan with a > 2 liter gas engine is a stupid buy these days. Gas is expensive. You should at least offer a diesel version.

Next - the Prius. WTF was Toyota thinking? Its expensive, around the same price as a mid end luxury car and almost 5x the price of a vios. Look, Toyota, if I was rich enough to afford a Prius I would be rich enough to NOT CARE about the gas bill. And I would rather buy a BMW or Mercedes since the price is the same. Filipinos dont give much thought to the environment because we're poor. We'll gladly stomp all over the greenies if it meant saving a buck. I predict that most people in the Philippines who buy the prius (if any) are more interested in "appearing" green.


I suggest a cheaper version, a PRIUS LITE if you will, with these specs:

* Smaller body, 2 seater if needed.
* Smaller engine. The Prius has a 1.8 liter engine but accelerates like a V6. Who the heck in the Philippines would want to do that? It wastes gas! Just give me a 1 liter engine that accelerates like a 1.3 liter engine. That would be good enough for me.
* Cut down on the expensive electronics. Just have the dashboard flash a big LOW BATT or FULL BATT sign and have the driver manually switch the gas engine on or off.
* Why be gas at all? Go diesel - electric hybrid
* Modular battery pack. Add more or less cells depending on your budget, sacrificing cargo space. Also have the option of going lead-acid if your budget is really small.
* From the start its a plug in hybrid.
* Typical battery only range would be say 20-50 km, with the aircon on. This is the Philippines. Its hot here. An aircon is a necessity. Anybody that can afford a decent car also has a job or social life that would be affected if they showed up to work sweaty and smelly.
* Manual transmission to lower the price.
* Not more than 1 million pesos in price