RideScout Announces Launch of Transportation Smartphone App

AUSTIN, Texas - March 18, 2013 - PRLog -- Austin, Texas — March 18, 2013 — RideScout™, an Austin-based technology start-up with an app that allows a user to see all the ground transportation options around and choose the best on-demand ride, announced today that it is officially launching in Austin, TX. RideScout is targeting University of Texas students and downtown urban professionals as its first user groups.

“RideScout seeks to simplify the process of finding a ride by making information about existing alternatives easy to understand and by providing the same reliability and flexibility of car ownership,” said founder and CEO Joseph Kopser.

“Austin has the perfect launch city mix: terrible traffic congestions and rapid population growth of technology savvy residents looking for alternatives to car ownership,” added Kopser.

RideScout is a transportation application that connects riders with a range of ride service providers. The RideScout aggregation platform ranks ride convenience factors such as cost and time to recommend a “best ride” from all ride options available: public buses, transit, subway, taxis, limos, shuttles, car2go, pedicabs and peer to peer ride sharing.

Austin City Council Member Chris Riley agrees: "The default answer for transportation in Austin does not have to be a personal car. Companies like RideScout make it easier for Austinites to find the transportation options that work best for them. For every Austinite who finds an alternative for their commute, RideScout has helped all of us by taking one more car off the road."

“RideScout will push highly motivated citizens to alternative modes of transportation, helping to fill underutilized public transit capacity to keep more cars off the roads,“ said Todd Hemingson, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development for Capital Metro, Austin’s regional public transportation provider.

Consumer demand for convenient transportation alternatives has given rise to solutions such as Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, and Car2Go, all of whom participated in SXSW last week in Austin. But those companies are focused on providing information and services for only a single type of transportation – taxis, ride sharing or car sharing - in isolation.

During SXSW Interactive last week, the RideScout app offered festival goers multiple ride options in one simple user interface including bus/rail, Car2Go, pedicabs, and low-speed electric vehicle cabs. Additionally, to start getting the word out about the app and gauge initial response, RidesScout offered free sponsored shuttle rides for users.

Recent University of Texas McCombs School of Business graduate and Austin resident Craig Carter said about his RideScout SXSW experience: “This is great. Seeing all of my (ride) options and being able to compare them will help me to make smarter choices on the go.”

The RideScout application is free to download and available for iPhones in the Apple App Store. The Android version will be available by Fall 2013.

About RideScout:

RideScout LLC, formerly GoingMyWay LLC, is an Austin, TX based technology start-up. RideScout won most promising IT & Web Company at The Rice Alliance, Dec. 2012 as well as placed 2nd in the National Sustainability Category Competition at the CleanTech Open Global Forum in San Jose, Nov 2012. To find out more, visit www.ridescoutapp.com