The ComeWithMe system for searching and ranking activity-based carpooling rides

COMEWITHME is an activity oriented carpooling service that enlarges the candidate destinations of a ride request by considering alternative places where the desired activity can be performed. It is based on the observation that individuals often move towards a place to perform an activity while the activity is often not strictly associated with a single place, as one may go for shopping or eating to many different locations. Activity-oriented carpooling hugely increases the number of rides matching a query, thus introducing requirements on system responsiveness and ranking effectiveness that are not common to traditional carpooling services. The demoed system implements the Come-WithMe service in almost its entirety, and includes the back-end and a user-friendly mobile application for smart-phones aimed at achieving users' acceptance and usability.