Bright sparks shortlisted to tackle Australia’s traffic congestion
A ridesharing app, designated car spaces, commuter matchmaking and business networking opportunities are some of the creative carpooling ideas in the running for the $15,000 Banksia Ignite Enabler challenge.
The Banksia Foundation, together with Transurban, has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Banksia Ignite Enabler challenge, which aims to generate crowd-sourced solutions to some of corporate Australia’s biggest sustainability issues.
Transurban partnered in the initiative as a means of stimulating new carpooling ideas to ease traffic congestion. The organisation will reveal the winner at the Banksia Sustainability Awards in Melbourne on 29 November.
Designed to match innovative thinkers with big business to solve issues relating to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), the challenge received entries from start-ups, businesses, transport research institutes, universities, schools, and the wider community.
The finalists include:
- Commuto
- GoDoor
- Ippon Australia
- OfficePool
- Poolin
- Brigidine College, and
- Oliver and Yvonne Leupold
The Banksia Foundation created the Banksia Ignite Enabler to alert people to the challenge of achieving the SDGs by 2030. The goals aim to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect the planet.
Banksia Foundation CEO Graz van Egmond said: “We created this initiative to raise awareness of the global goals and the potential for partnerships to drive progress towards them.
“Transurban are committed to creating sustainable cities and communities, but we wanted to show what more is possible when organisations share their vision with the public and collaborate on solutions. I applaud Transurban’s support for our challenge and thank the entrants for their fantastic ideas.”
Henry Byrne, Group Executive of Corporate Affairs at Transurban said: “We were really impressed with all the ideas submitted to the carpooling challenge, which ranged from riding in cars with colleagues to trading time and skills for a lift.
Research[1]shows that if six per cent of road users shifted out of the morning peak, traffic on our roads would be returned to levels seen during the school holidays. Carpooling is one way we could reduce congestion during peak times, and the ideas submitted have shown us that making carpooling easier and more convenient is possible.
About the finalists’ submissions:
| Name | Organisation | Short summary | Location |
| Brigidine College | School | The team from Brigidine College has come up with a solution offering a reliable parking space to students who carpool. | Sydney |
| Commuto | Startup | With the right balance of incentives, safety and convenience for drivers and passengers, Commuto encourages good behaviours for ubiquitous carpooling. | Sydney |
| GoDoor | Startup | GoDoor combines cost-effectiveness, convenience & comfort of a personal car, and the connection of the destination, for carpoolers. | Brisbane |
| Ippon Australia | Startup | Ippon’s “Car Mates” brings the community of toll road users together with accurate matches, rewards and consistency of service. | Melbourne |
| Office Pool | Startup | OfficePool connects commuters belonging to companies sharing the same office block. | Canberra |
| Oliver Leupold | Individual | Yvonne and Oliver Leupold have designed a Linkt Carpooling feature for Transurban’s LinktGO app, to make carpooling better and safer | Brisbane |
| Poolin | Startup | Poolin is an easy, safe and flexible carpool system, designed for the community, powered by time currency™ | Sydney |
“Research[1]shows that if six per cent of road users shifted out of the morning peak, traffic on our roads would be returned to levels seen during the school holidays. Carpooling is one way we could reduce congestion during peak times, and the ideas submitted have shown us that making carpooling easier and more convenient is possible.