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Gradually more departments followed in CSPS's lead by authorizing departmental ridesharing and also steadily lowered the restrictions associated with the apps functionality as it became clear that the risks of abuse are marginal, or at least, significantly less than with existing systems. At the time of writing in early 2020, half a dozen departments and agencies have some measure of departmental ridesharing with Transport Canada being the largest user, having several hundred users being permitted the full functionality of the app.
Gradually more departments followed in CSPS's lead by authorizing departmental ridesharing and also steadily lowered the restrictions associated with the apps functionality as it became clear that the risks of abuse are marginal, or at least, significantly less than with existing systems. At the time of writing in early 2020, half a dozen departments and agencies have some measure of departmental ridesharing with Transport Canada being the largest user, having several hundred users being permitted the full functionality of the app.
=== Advantages of Ridesharing for the GC ===
=== Advantages of Ridesharing for the GC ===
Departmental ridesharing also offers greater opportunities for ongoing digital transformation and can permit new downstream functionalities once deployed. This is because departmental ridesharing takes a process whose information byproduct is boxes of isolated and non-integrated paper about past trips and replaces it with a fully digital system which can offer insights about usage patterns and offer alternatives. For instance, it can be used to inform future transit services, the availability of alternative modes of transportation (like bikes or scooters), opportunities for systematically reducing the GC's carbon footprint and costs, or even inform real-property considerations over time. Digital transformation and departmental ridehailing are complimentary.
Departmental ridesharing also offers greater opportunities for ongoing digital transformation and can permit new downstream functionalities once deployed. This is because departmental ridesharing takes a process whose information byproduct is boxes of isolated and non-integrated paper about past trips and replaces it with a fully digital system which can offer insights about usage patterns and offer alternatives. For instance, it can be used to inform future transit services, the availability of alternative modes of transportation (like bikes or scooters), opportunities for systematically reducing the GC's carbon footprint and costs, or even inform real-property considerations over time. Digital transformation and departmental ridehailing are complimentary.
=== Why Uber? ===
There are several competing ridesharing services, of which Uber is the largest, however Uber's early adoption as a platform for ridesharing in the GC is for reasons of capacity. In Ottawa, Uber has traditional been the sole service platform with a fully developed and tested corporate service offering. Lyft has hoped to launch an equivalent service by 2020 and local taxi companies are developing their own ridehailing apps as well which will ultimately have a corporate service as well. Thus while it can be expected that there will be a multiplicity of platforms available to public servants in the future, Uber had initially started as the default platform for so many departments due to a lack of viable alternatives.
== Departmental Ridesharing - A How to Guide ==
== Departmental Ridesharing - A How to Guide ==
=== Deploying Departmental Ridesharing in your organization! ===
=== Deploying Departmental Ridesharing in your organization! ===
With it widely known that a growing number of departments are adopting departmental ridesharing, much of the inertial resistance to departmental ridesharing is dissipating with the understanding that it is an improvement has been de-risked elsewhere. For those with lingering concerns, pilot programs can be a successful gambit for getting a foot in the door without taking on a prohibitive amount of risk. A pilot with a pre-defined user group will limit risk even more while also helping to give departmental finance teams the opportunity to get accustomed to the new interface and capabilities that come with a departmental ridesharing system. With the increasing data richness that comes with departmental ridesharing, it is possible to clearly evaluate the results of the pilot and compare against control groups.
Successful pilots will continue to expand the authorized user group until ultimately all the individuals in the department are authorized to use ride sharing, should they choose to. For those with ongoing concerns after a first pilot, it can help to suggest that new users are selected through a snowballing process or are to be included on request. Calls for the user group to solely composed of managers should be resisted because it limits the diversity of the user group and potential trip types captured in a pilot, making the data less useful for a future review.
Successful deployments to date have been marked with several key criteria:
Successful deployments to date have been marked with several key criteria: