BIGF and Robin Chase

Robin Chase, Founder and CEO, GoLoco  www.goloco.org

Chase is the founder and CEO of GoLoco. GoLoco is a service that helps people quickly arrange to share rides between friends, neighbors, and colleagues. GoLoco also helps share trip costs online. Prior to GoLoco, Chase co-founded and was CEO of Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing company.

  • I only have one thing on my mind incessantly – climate change and how we can get people motivated to act
  • speaking to climatologists, talking to one of the leaders, looking at their slides – heavy in information.
  • he says that if in 2015, if world wide CO2 gives down, we have a 50.50 chance of avoiding a climate disaster.
  • in 2004, driving personal cars is 20% of CO2, 9% is making the cars and fuel, 17% was house electricity use
  • biggest is car transport.  So what can we do something.  if we start today, when will it play out,
  • politicians say buy fuel efficient car, use alternative fuel,, If everyone started now, then in yr 10, then only reduce by 5%.  In urban areas, changes are often 20-25 years before effect.
  • Carbon taxes are good – people change when money involved.   it would transform demand for walkable communities, change behaviour fast
  • Next piece, what is the role of business?
  • carbon taxes is like that horrible medicine that you have to take, even if horrible.  the role of business is to make the medicine more palatable
  • for people in suburban areas, car ownership can be 20+% of income, they are screwed.  so what can we do for them?
  • i want people to be able to create their own personal transportation system, with their cars and trips – ride sharing.  this is goloco.  the word car-pooling I hate, so I’m looking at a new word and concept
  • built on facebook platform,  tells you how much CO2 I have saved,  it’s based around my friends and their trips.
  • a bike team are using it to arrange their trips,.  the payment system works well, no one gets left with it all.
  • I’ve been called a one trick pony.   My previous company, innovative hire cars.  Goloco leverages the expensive asset, the car, to make it more efficiently used.    I realised I was a two trick pony, how can we get end users to create the infrastructure.  we are going to create a community public transportation network
  • at zipcar, we got a one sentence email, from a customer.   ‘have I told you lately that I love you?’  That is what i am for

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