Avego Real-time Ridesharing Comes to Windows Phone 7

SEATTLE, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Avego Driver, a free ridesharing app that shares empty seats between drivers and riders in real time, is now available on Windows Phone 7.

Avego Driver is the first real-time ridesharing application available on Windows Phone 7, as well as the first real-time ridesharing app compatible across multiple mobile platforms. While Avego Driver for iPhone has been available since 2008, with thousands of users in over 60 countries around the world, the new app on Windows Phone 7 is the first to sport a new style of interface that is easier to deploy and use on more mobile devices.

Although the app works anywhere in the world, the app was built specifically to support the Seattle-area's go520 real-time ridesharing project. Crucial to the success of go520 is the involvement of Microsoft's approximately 40,000 employees in the Puget Sound region, the majority of whom have Windows Phone, and many of whom commute along the heavily-congested SR 520 corridor. Several hundred Microsoft staffers have already signed up to use the new app to share rides between Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond and downtown Seattle.

"Avego Driver on Windows Phone provides users, including thousands of Microsoft employees, with another great alternative to driving alone and makes it easy for them to participate in this groundbreaking rideshare program," said Mark Aggar, Senior Director of Technology Strategy for Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft Corporation.  "The potential for dynamic ridesharing technologies such as Avego Driver is enormous, particularly considering the critical mass of drivers and riders that Microsoft can bring to the program."

The new Windows Phone 7 app takes advantage of the panoramic layout of the Windows interface. For example, users can quickly swipe left and right to view trip details and a map view of their route, without having to load a new screen.

"Clearly, smartphones are not dominated by a single vendor anymore, and that means that real-time ridesharing needs to support all major platforms to maximize the odds that people will be able to share their wasted seat capacity," said Sean O'Sullivan, Avego Managing Director. "We don't support every major platform yet, but we're delighted to add WP7 to the mix."

Avego Driver allows drivers with GPS-enabled smartphones to offer the empty seats in their vehicles to riders along the SR 520 highway, in real time, as they travel. Avego pairs passengers and drivers through an easy-to-use system using Windows Phone 7 and other mobile devices. Avego automatically splits the cost of the commute, providing a key financial incentive to commuters frustrated by high gasoline prices.

Avego is launching the Windows Phone 7 app and the new real-time ridesharing corridor between downtown Seattle and Microsoft in Redmond at a special event on June 16th at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle.  The event is open to anyone wanting to learn more about the go520 ridesharing pilot (full details available on http://www.go520.org).

The app is available now for free download from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

About Avego

Founded in 2007, Avego (http://www.avego.com) is a multinational company with offices in the United States, Ireland and China. Avego improves passenger transport efficiency by connecting consumers to information about available transport options.

SOURCE Avego