EtherRider: A Decentralized Intercity Ride-Sharing Platform using Block-Chain Technology

Abstract

Ridesharing entails the sharing of journeys in order to make optimal use of fuel by allowing people to go along the same route to share rides. It allows regular passengers to share trips with others, having the additive benefit of lowering travel costs and reducing traffic congestion. Most current ride choices rely on a centralized authority to enable the system, leaving it vulnerable to faults at a specific point in the system and raising concerns about privacy disclosure to attackers acting both within and outside. Furthermore, they are vulnerable to external threats and fraud, and the payment made by the current ride-sharing service provider is rather costly. As a result, we have proposed the system named EtherRider, based on the Ethereum blockchain technology. EtherRider enables drivers to provide transportation services without the need for a central system. Both the passenger and the driver will know about sharing ride details, secure their travel details, such as pick-up and drop-off locations, arrival/departure times, and secure payment through the ethereum blockchain.With a distributed ledger, drivers and riders could create a more user-driven,value-oriented marketplace.In the context of car-sharing systems, our work also indicates that the design of such an integrated platform is dependent on striking the correct balance between important design concepts (such as security and privacy, authenticity, traceability and reliability, scalability, and interoperability).