EBay for transport. – You plan a route on Google Maps and click the "Road Trip" button.
– You see a list of other people who are making the same journey, some have space in their car, and some want to join somebody who does.
– Companies can use the service to offer transport for defined journey legs, for a set price.
E.g. A taxi company can give a price from the city center to the airport; a flight charter company can give a price from Miami to Cuba; a guy who commutes every morning can sell seats in his car.
As the service matures more legs will be entered and eventually Google will be able to give you total journey prices comprising multi legs. Ebay style reputation feedback will keep folks reliable.
2011: I type London to Sydney in Google maps. The "Road Trip" options include:
– BA business class direct, 1000GBP.
– A 3 stop journey using Aeroflot and a buss leg between Ulan Bator and Yinchuan, 400GBP.
– An adventure by container ship to Cairo, passenger seat in a Rally car to Dubai, and a final leg on a jump seat in a FedEx plane, 200GBP
Update: this would fit well for a company offering something like this air-taxi idea.