New apps will help taxi drivers compete against ride-sharing. (Image: Jim Glab)
As ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft continue their relentless growth and gain access to passenger pick-ups at more airports, some new technologies are in the works that could help licensed taxis compete more effectively.
Flywheel, which provides an app that consumers can use to request taxi pick-ups in six western cities, is starting to test a new smartphone-based taxi meter that will let taxi drivers consolidate much of the equipment and systems they now use.
The GPS-based TaxiOS for Android phones will replace dispatch systems, navigation, payment systems and meters in a single app. Customers would be able to make cashless payments and track their rides with the app, just as they do with Uber and Lyft. It will also work with telephone dispatch systems, and passengers could still raise their hand to hail a cab in the street.
TaxiOS is being tested in some taxis in San Francisco and will be expanded after regulatory clearance.
Meanwhile, a 2016 launch in New York, London and Singapore is planned for the new Karhoo app, which has raised $250 million thus far in venture capital funding. New York-based Karhoo will work with existing taxi and black car fleets, letting the customer see and compare his ride options at a glance, and summon a nearby driver for a pickup.
Company officials say that when Karhoo launches in New York City, it will be working with fleets that include 28,000 yellow cabs and black cars currently operating there, thus avoiding the kinds of regulatory hoops that Uber and Lyft are having to jump through to enter a market.
And there’s Arro, an app available for Android and Apple phones that’s currently in use in New York and coming soon to Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and San Francisco.
Like Flywheel, Arro can be used to hail licensed taxis and to pay for the ride — even if the customer didn’t use the app to request the vehicle. It also promises regular taxi fares with no Uber-like surge pricing.
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I am a big user of Flywheel and very happy with the app and service in San Francisco. Started using it when it was Cabulous. I understand the benefits of Uber but an unwilling to give a company led by the type of people in charge at Uber my business
Wow, Hailo crashed and burned with the same idea in the US. Although I don’t think VC was a frothy when they tried it. So maybe it will take them a few years longer to incinerate their stacks of cash when they give it a go.
The main reason Uber is gaining traction is an overall better product: Good, reliable, cleaner, newer, always on time cars + excellent service from friendly drivers who depend on their ratings. Without improving these factors, no app will be able to help the taxi companies gain their lost marketshare back. Flywheel has been available for a while here in S.F and Uber and Lyft still have a 65% marketshare.
Not getting it? Ride Sharing?
I can share a ride in a NYC taxi anytime, if I want. No prob!
I wonder if all these wonderful taxi apps will have an “I think my driver used an inefficient route to make more money” button that you can push after you arrive at your destination.
Meanwhile, I have read on the Internet that if you complain to Uber about your driver taking an inefficient route to your destination, your complaint isn’t even read by a human. A computer checks your actual route with the optimal route and issues you a partial refund if you deserve one. (I read about one Uber driver who was forced to take detours because of road construction and then Uber adjusted his payment downward for taking an “inefficient route.”)
Also, Mayor de Blasio in New York City is overlooking a new source of revenue. These new taxi apps could record a taxi’s speed along the route and report it to the city, which could automatically send the driver a speeding ticket by mail if the driver was heavy on the pedal.
But I won’t hold my breath for these features.
Absolutely. As my family and I were standing in London this summer on a corner watching one occupied cab after another pass us by, I quickly gave up on just waiting for an empty and reached for my Uber app. Problem solved. Were I able to use an app to electronically summon a nearby registered cab, I would have done so.