A verified phone number did the work

How strangers were made legible to each other.

• A verified phone number and a rating did the workThe product problem was never routing: it was making two strangers legible enough to each other that one would get into the other's car.
• The profile as a contractStated preferences — how much conversation, smoking, luggage, music — turned an awkward negotiation into a filter.
• What a rating cannot carryReputation systems work on repeat participation, and most people share a long journey a handful of times a year.
• Deposits, and the no-showCharging in advance solved reliability and created a refund problem instead.