Using Blockchain in the Registration and Authentication of a Carpooling Application: From Review to Proposal

Today, transportation plays a crucial role in economic development and establishing strong social relationships. Primary mobility challenges in cities include high levels of traffic, accidents, and pollution. Improvements in road infrastructure, technological advancements at traffic light intersections, and the adoption of electric or hybrid vehicles are insufficient to resolve these issues. Maximizing the use of public transit and shared transportation is essential for this purpose. Strategies aimed at reducing the number of private vehicles on city roads are beneficial in this regard. Ridesharing, particularly carpooling, is an effective strategy to achieve such a reduction in vehicle numbers. However, safety concerns related to carpooling tools present a significant barrier to the growth of this mode of transportation. The measures implemented in these tools often lack appropriate technology for the authentication process, which is crucial for enhancing safety for both passengers and drivers. This proposed research explores the benefits of improving the authentication processes for passengers and drivers within a shared transportation system to minimize information security risks. A thorough literature review was conducted on shared transportation, user registration, authentication processes within these systems, and technologies that could enhance security, such as blockchain. Subsequently, considering the identified criteria in the literature review, a proposal was developed for creating a registration and authentication module based on blockchain that could be applied across various systems. Finally, an analysis was conducted on how this module could be integrated into a carpooling application and the benefits it would provide regarding safety and increased user adoption. The findings from the review were organized and assessed to identify key aspects for improving user authentication in a system based on intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) and utilizing blockchain, recognized for its security and data integrity. The registration and authentication module developed in this work allows increased security, scalability, and user adoption for any type of application, e.g., carpooling.