A Matching-Algorithm based on the Cloud and Positioning Systems to Improve Carpooling

Sustainable Mobility is a key goal to reduce pollution and improve quality of life. Information Technology can highly support Sustainable Mobility in many ways, such as highlighting to commuters the most suited means of transport for a given trip, or optimizing the vehicle’s occupancy rates by dynamically arranging carpools. In this paper, we present a solution for a Cloud computing-based platform, meant to improve Sustainable Mobility. In particular, the proposed system helps users in choosing a transport solution according to its ecological footprint, matching his/her needs, preferences, and actual location. Moreover, it exploits a geosocial network to improve the users’ confidence in the rides arranged with other passengers. From a technological point of view, the platform takes advantage of the Cloud infrastructure, resulting in a Software plus Services solution. In particular, the route calculation algorithm is based on a composition of different services available in the Cloud.