Click to share a ride and toll on the 520

Just before tolls return to the old Highway 520 bridge this spring, the state government and a tech firm are trying to create a new form of ride sharing in the crowded corridor.

Using a smartphone, drivers can match up with riders at busy hubs such as Husky Stadium or Eastside park-and-ride lots. That way, they can travel in the high-occupany-vehicle lanes, as well as share toll or gasoline costs.

The concept is similar to slugging — the custom in Washington, D.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area of motorists who pick up strangers en route to work, in hopes of driving quickly in the HOV lanes.

But while riders in those cities essentially hitchhike from park-and-ride lots or bus stops, local riders will send out an electronic beacon on their smartphones.

You might call the Seattle experiment "e-slugging."

Avego, the company providing the software, prefers the phrase "real-time ride sharing." Its go520 program enrolls a finite community of users, whose driving and criminal records are screened beforehand.

When a rider presses "Get a Ride" on the phone display, nearby drivers see or hear that request, then press an icon to claim the passenger. The passenger sees an image of the driver's car type, such as a silver Volvo, and the driver's rating of one to five stars, based on overall impressions by past riders.

When the rendezvous occurs, the driver logs a personal identification number that confirms the trip.

Prime locations include Seattle Children's hospital and Husky Stadium, as well as the Houghton, South Kirkland and Bear Creek park-and-ride lots; Capitol Hill and the Microsoft campus in Redmond are coming soon, said James Donovan, Avego's local project manager.

State lawmakers in 2009 authorized a test project to boost carpooling, so the Department of Transportation (DOT) is spending $400,000 to subsidize this year's test run, designed for up to 250 drivers and 750 riders.

Even at that level, instant ride sharing would barely affect the bridge's 115,000 daily car trips — while tolling itself would cause about one-fifth of drivers to choose other routes, take transit or not travel, the state's own studies predict.

The state DOT plans to launch tolls that vary by time of day, peaking at $3.50, in April. (The tolls still require legislative approval, due to the recent passage of Tim Eyman's Initiative 1053.)

Participants in the ride-sharing test are paid up to $30 a month. Before the official launch Thursday, there were only a small group of closely watched drivers signed up.

They've been picking up virtual "ghost riders" since December, as Avego fine-tunes the system, Donovan said.

Josh Kavanagh, transportation director at UW, is helping with recruitment, saying it's compatible with UW's culture of innovation.

The 520 corridor presents certain obstacles to e-slugging.

One is the difficulty of losing commute minutes trying to re-enter the mainline after grabbing a passenger.

Donovan replies the driver and rider often will begin a trip from the same spot, such as Husky Stadium. Perhaps they just got off work in the University of Washington Medical Center, across the street, at the same time.

Another is the requirement of three people to use the HOV lanes near the east shoreline. For that reason, the new technology is being marketed to existing carpools and van pools, Donovan said.

Thirdly, frequent and increasing bus services, including the private Microsoft Connector, serves the Highway 520 corridor. Would instant ride sharing really be easier?

"We're not bound by time and we're not bound by schedules. We're bound by availability," Donovan said.

Some people would use both modes, he acknowledges. A phone-wielding transit rider might learn from the One Bus Away app that his bus is running late, then click over to the go520 app. Donovan said any profit Avego makes won't come off the six-month test, but through future phases or ventures.

"Our hope is that a thousand people, they tell another thousand. It's a viral thing, that's what we're hoping."

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com