FEP’s Student Association (AEFEP) launched a university car-pooling app – “USHARE by AEFEP” – which aims to be a cheaper and ecological mobility alternative for the entire community of the University of Porto.
Approximately 40 thousand people, among students, professors and staff, will be able to benefit from this car-pooling solution, which is based on sharing a vehicle and the costs of a trip among several passengers.
“The application UShare By AEFEP reflects AEFEP’s commitment to environmental sustainability. This application will revolutionize mobility at the University of Porto, allowing students to save time and resources, being environmentally responsible. I believe this application is the proof that the students not only identify the problem, but we are also part of the solution”, highlights AEFEP’s President, Francisco Porto Fernandes.
The mobile application, developed in collaboration with the junior company of the School of Engineering of the University of Porto (JuniFEUP), emerges as a restructuring of an old FEP habit in which students combined rides among themselves through a Facebook page.
Keeping the same concept, now using new communication technologies, AEFEP launches this economic and environmentally friendly transport solution, which intends not only to improve urban mobility, but also to be a social experience.
“We believe that this app will be an excellent way of integrating first-year students of the School, for example, some of whom are displaced and sometimes find it difficult to meet colleagues who share the same reality. The possibility of arranging trips with other members of the academic community, in an organised and safe way, may be a way for them to get to know each other, to feel more supported in this change and to integrate better in the Faculty”, describes Francisco Fernandes.
How does the APP work?
It is necessary to register in the application, using the institutional e-mail of the University of Porto and from then on search and/or offer rides to a certain destination.
After finding a viable option for the driver and passenger, a contact is established to agree on the details of the route: time, place of departure, costs, etc.
The app is available for download at Google Play Store and App Store.
The app’s presentation video is available here.
