A few years back, we covered ride-sharing site Hitchsters, which matches travellers to help them cut down on cab fare to airports in New York and San Francisco. Now, in the UK, Luton Airport has now joined forces with ride-sharing enterprise Liftshare to connect commuters en route to the airport.

Interested passengers and airport employees can register to access a database of other commuters, dropping a line to those heading to the airport at a similar time. The site never reveals the user's email or other contact information, and suggests that ride-sharers meet in a public place for the first trip just to keep things safe. The program, which is the first of its kind in the UK, is a smart move by Luton Airport. Not only does it improve its less-than-stellar transportation links to London, but it can ease its negative impact on the environment by helping to reduce the numbers of cars on the road. Key, of course, will be to make it easy and safe for travellers to share, and targeting frequent flyers seems like the way to go. Other airports to follow?

Website: www.londonlutoncarshare.com
Contact: londonluton.carshare@ltn.aero

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

We've written fairly extensively about city bike schemes already, and Barcelona's two-year-old Bicing is a shining example. Now, bringing the service into the iPhone era, Bicing recently launched a mobile application that consumers can use to get location-based information about bicycle and parking availability.

Residents of Barcelona use Bicing by applying for a personal card and then using that card to rent and pay for use of one of the service's 6,000 bicycles. Bicycles can be picked up from and returned to any of 400 stations throughout the city. With the new iBicing application—downloadable from Apple's iTunes Store for EUR 0.79—consumers can now see in advance the best place to find or bring back a bicycle. All they need do is send an SMS to "7010" for information about the availability of bikes and parking slots at the stations nearest them. iBicing taps the iPhone's GPS capabilities to pinpoint a user's location and select which stations would be most convenient, but users can also search for information about others. Google Maps with interactive navigation can be displayed as well.

Bike sharing schemes are already laudable for so many reasons, most notably their benefits for the environment and urban congestion. Making such services more convenient for consumers through maps and the increasingly ubiquitous iPhone is the obvious next step toward realizing those benefits more fully. This is "mapmania" at work, as our sister site would say, and it's one to emulate in bicycle-sharing cities around the globe! (Related: Zipcar's iPhone app will find and unlock cars — Free coffee for iPhone users at Swedish 7-Eleven.)

Website: www.bicing.com
Contact: info@bicing.com

Spotted by: Daniel Rodriguez

With all the benefits of carpooling, it's no wonder the ride-sharing services are coming fast and furious. Hard on the heels of our recent stories about Galpshare and NuRide comes Mega Car Pool, a travel matching service in New Delhi that rewards drivers for giving rides.

Those interested in carpooling through Mega Car Pool begin by registering with the service, which will then conduct an identity verification process for security that includes a home visit and presentation of residential proof, driving license and citizenship ID. Prospective members also fill out a questionnaire with details about their regular travel habits and preferences in a travelling companion, including gender and whether or not they smoke. (No personal details are ever revealed to ride companions, and the service even has a "women's club" for all-female drivers and rides.) Members are then given a smart card with ID code, and a GPS device is installed in their car.

Next, information about members' routine trips—such as daily commutes to work—are fed into Mega Car Pool's computer for matching with members looking for rides; ride-seekers without cars of their own can become members only if referred by one who owns a car. Matches can be made for both routine and ad hoc trips; either way, each time a car-owning member provides a lift, the kilometres travelled are recorded by the installed GPS. Those kilometres are then translated into credits, which are added to the driver's smart card account and can later be used for free rides with another driver, or be donated to another member for rides of their own. In addition to matching drivers with those seeking rides, Mega Car Pool also provides additional services including a panic button, traffic updates and emergency assistance when a car breaks down.

Mega Car Pool is currently operated by infrastructure construction company HICC Ltd., and a similar concept is currently being considered for implementation by the Delhi government as a complement to public transport.

Website: www.megacarpool.com
Contact: feedback@megacarpool.com

Spotted by: Vikrant Rai

Providing further evidence that the future will be pedal-powered, Dutch brand Taga has launched an eco-stroller-bike much like the Zigo Leader and trioBike models we've written about before.

A recent winner of the Red Dot Design Award, the Taga bike uses simple click-to fit technology that allows it to be switched from stroller mode to bicycle mode in just 20 seconds. Child seating can be reclined for a sleeping little one, and there's both a hood and rain guard for protection against the elements. Future options will include seating for two children, a car seat adapter, a cart mode, a wooden double seat and extra front-end protection. The Taga is available in stores throughout Europe and the UK, where pricing is GBP 1,695.

Looking for a future-proof investment? Then look no further than the world of bicycle-based innovation and brainstorm ways to replace four wheels with two. With all the many reasons to kick the gasoline habit, one might say it's the pedal-powered—not the meek—who shall inherit the earth! ;-) (Related: Lightweight electric bike targets urban commuters — Waitrose using bicycles & carts for greener deliveries.)

Website: www.taga.nl
Contact: office-nl@taga.nl

Carsharing and carpooling are gaining ground across the world, mainly through the efforts of non-profit organisations and for-profit startups like Zipcar and Zimride. An unexpected new member of the movement is Galp Energia, Portugal’s largest oil and gas company.

In March 2009, Galp Energia launched Galpshare, a carpooling platform where commuters can create a profile, specify their daily route and find others heading the same way. Users can also list their musical preferences and interests (politics, sport, business, etc.), helping them find people they’d enjoy sharing a ride with.

Galpshare was created by Galp Energia as a way to promote energy efficiency, helping consumers to save money and decrease their carbon footprint. Which isn’t as counterproductive for a gas company as it may seem; most petrochemical behemoths are actively branching out into renewable energy sources and sustainable energy consumption. Galpshare’s launch was widely promoted to commuters through an ad campaign, and the service is available throughout Portugal. Big brands looking to reap the rewards of eco-bounty: have you already figured out how to help your customers be green(er)? (Related: Rewarding consumers who drive less.)

Website: www.energiapositiva.pt