Patent ID: 8285571

Claim:
A method of causing a computer system to recommend a rideshare, comprising: generating, in a data processor, a search criteria according to user-defined inputs including at least one itinerary and at least one personal affinity category, storing a plurality of user profiles in a memory associated with the data processor, generating, in the data processor, a cost value for each of the plurality of stored user profiles according to the search criteria, each stored user profile including at least one itinerary and one personal affinity category, displaying anonymously at least one of the stored user profiles and a corresponding cost value on a display device, transmitting a first anonymous message to a communication address corresponding to a selected user profile, the anonymous message requesting a rideshare, receiving a second anonymous message from the communication address corresponding to the selected user profile, the second anonymous message indicating one of acceptance or rejection of the rideshare; and displaying, on the display device, a rideshare finalizing information upon receipt of an acceptance or an anonymous denial message upon receipt of a rejection, the at least one itinerary and the at least one personal affinity category of the search criteria being weighted to generate the cost values according to a plurality of user-defined priorities; updating, in the data processor, a user profile according to at least one other profile corresponding to a history of past rideshare acceptances by identifying other user profiles, stored in the memory, corresponding to a rideshare history of the user profile, determining, in the data processor, matching personal affinity categories between the other user profiles and the user profile, updating, in the user profile, values corresponding to the matching personal affinity categories according to the other user profiles, and updating, in the user profile, at least one itinerary according to itineraries corresponding to the other user profiles, wherein for each matching personal affinity category corresponding values are copied from other user profiles to the user profile.