BlaBlaCar

BlaBlaCar, Trusted Carpooling is the Android app to share car travel expenses. Search for a journey if you're a passenger or offer your car as a driver

Sharing of costs when traveling by car

Car sharing is something that has been around for as long as cars have existed: you share the costs and everyone benefits from a lower fare. BlaBlaCar - Carsharing has managed to use the platform to connect those who need to travel with those who own a vehicle and want to make the same trip. For this we take a commission per trip, so it is not to be confused with an NGO. And we leave the discussion about whether this is really a collaborative driving alternative or a way to covertly compete with other public transport such as buses or trains to other forums.

How does BlaBlaCar work?

Part of the success of this service is due to its simplicity, as it is very easy to offer or book a ride. Here are the main features:

• Connects car owners and passengers to share trips and expenses.
• Social profiles of each user.
• Automatic Best Offer Calculator.
• Direct messaging between drivers and passengers.
• One-click calls between users.

And it works like this:

1. Step 1: Let's say we want to go on a trip. For example Valencia - Barcelona, ​​Alicante - Madrid or Murcia - Calasparra.
2. Step 2: We register as a passenger or driver (with our email or with our Facebook profile).
3. Step 3: If we are passengers, we search the trip for the desired date, being able to adjust the price ranges. If no trip is available at that time, we can indicate that we will be notified as soon as a trip that meets our criteria becomes available. If we are drivers, we will simply announce it (with departure date, duration and price).
4. Step 4: Now you simply book the trip you want once you find it or accept the passenger who offers to accompany you.

Possible downsides of BlaBlaCar

This is roughly how this service works, which is very popular with commuters between two cities. In addition, the company has appealed to the strategy of making the trip more enjoyable because you travel in company. As for me, I might be a bit of a grouch, but I can think of several situations where I would be more cautious:

• The car that picks us up smells like fart, bacon, feet and armpits.
• We think the potato omelet shouldn't have onions in it, and our driver/passenger thinks it should. Or even worse: he calls every type of rice paella.
• We get on the bus with a psychopath who tries to assassinate us with an ax in Motilla del Palancar on the trip from Madrid to Valencia.
• Our driver/passenger only uses BlaBlaCar to turn on anything that moves (the most viable option).

And that's why there's a driver verification system where user ratings are very important... so the car at least has an air filter in case someone eats too many beans before driving. It's up to you. In short, downloading the APK to your smartphone can make your rides cheaper (albeit longer in some cases) and more fun (which doesn't mean pleasant).

What's new in the latest version?

• Unspecified improvements have been made.

Requirements and further information:

• Minimum operating system requirements: Android 5.0.