Bowen LIFT (Linking Islanders through Friendly Transportation), will be rolling out its new Rideshare App. this Sunday at the Christmas Fair. This will allow riders and drivers to connect in real time, and should be a big boost for those needing rides to/from town, and those willing to offer those rides.
LIFT will have a booth set up just outside the doors to the gym at BICS where they will display the new application - being developed by Bowen-based software developer Tom Carchrae. The online web application will be up and running, for sure, and hopefully, downloadable versions for Android, Apple, and Windows devices will be as well. (App. Store registration protocols are causing a bit of a timing glitch). The intention is that the App. will be vested with the Jack Bell Foundation or the municipality.
At the very least, all will be able to sign people up to be notified when these versions go live. We are looking for ‘field testers’ to test the program functionality, to have all bugs ironed out before the Bowen Queen arrives on January 4, 2015.
The hope is that this application will help mitigate overloads during the four months we will be at the mercy of a smaller ferry. Other initiatives such as Peter King’s proposed bus loop and car park fee reductions in Horseshoe Bay should help as well.
LIFT already has a Facebook presence, with 351 ‘friends’, and plans to create online synergies with BIFF (Bowen Islanders for Ferry Fairness). A big thank you to newly elected councillors Maureen Nicholson and Melanie Mason for becoming transportation champions, and specifically in their creation of BIFF and support for LIFT.
