best taxi dispatch software Archives

31 Jul 2019 Wednesday

A Comprehensive Guide to Acquiring Taxi Management Software

There are flexible options for taxi business owners and startup enthusiasts to choose the most suitable taxi management software. A range of software systems and platforms allows customers to acquire one which remains within their financial budget. CabStartup offers taxi dispatch platform as well as Uber app clone. The business owners who intend to acquire one of the modules separately use app clones. The details of platform are shared below.

Dispatch Platform Overview

This is a complete cloud-based platform which includes apps for passenger, driver, a dispatch panel and an admin panel.

Passenger App in Taxi Management Software

The taxi companies and startups utilizing CabStartup platform provide their passengers with an app having easy interface and efficient software. The app has following features.

Two-Tap Booking

Frequent users of ride-hailing apps often travel to some locations more than the other. Thus, it is wise to offer them a quick booking option. The app for passengers allows them to tap onto of the suggested locations which appear once the passenger opens the app. First tap enables them to select the location while second tap confirms the request for ride.

Proximity Search

The app informs passenger about all the drivers located in the vicinity. This feature enables them to pick the most suitable ride depending on time and cost factor. For instance, the nearest ride may not be the cheapest one. Conversely, the passenger aims to schedule the cheapest ride which might be farther than expensive rides. Therefore, proximity feature provides flexibility in choosing the ride with suitable options.

Encrypted Chat

Privacy concerns are peaking for the past few years. Owing to the demands in GDPR for Europe and state legislations in the US, CabStartup offers encrypted chat. Thus, no third-party can access the driver-passenger chat remotely. The access requires acquiring permission from local transportation regulators. This encryption ensures excessive satisfaction for passengers.

Real-time Tracking and ETA

The passengers can track the ride in real-time once s/he schedules a ride. This GPS-powered technology shows the current location of driver with an error margin of less than a meter. ETA or estimated arrival time also keeps on updating as the driver approaches near. Both taxi tracking software and ETA are vital for time management at passengers’ end.

The Driver of Choice

Many passengers are more comfortable while traveling with some drivers than others. CabStartup platform also facilitates passengers to request the driver of their choice. This facility further enhances the flexibility of choosing the most appropriate ride after proximity search.

Automated Fare Estimation

Fare estimate is crucial for every passenger who intends to acquire economical rides. Irrespective of passenger’s intention, CabStartup passenger app provides automated estimation on fare before confirmation of each ride. The app also provides information on surge pricing. In essence, the fare might be higher at times due to excessive demand. In such times, the fare multiplies by a factor which is calculated using number of available rides and distance from passenger’s pickup location.

Flexible Payment Options

The app enables passengers to pay via one of the payment methods. Apart from credit card, the app also offers e-wallet which maintains credit on customer’s and driver’s end. E-wallet allows passengers to top-up their balance and use it until the existing balance exhausts. Ride-hailing companies offer passengers to pay via hard cash in some countries where passengers rarely use credit card. Thus, CabStartup also integrates option for hard cash payment.

Push Notifications for Ride Status

Once a passenger schedules a ride, the app notifies passenger with every update that s/he should know. For instance, the app alarms the passenger when the taxi approaches within one minute of pickup location and once it arrives. Moreover, passenger also receives notification for message from driver and for e-receipt after the ride ends.

Rating and Feedback

Feedback enables taxi and ride-hailing companies to improve services and eliminate the shortcomings. The app allows passengers to rate the driver from 1 to 5 inclusive. Apart from rating, it also allows passengers to leave a feedback. The structure of feedback feature is defined in such a way that each bad review goes to the administration which reassesses it to penalize or acquit driver accordingly.

Accessing Trip History and Receipt

The passengers are able to access history of each of their previous trips. This facility enables them to rate the driver and ride at some later point. Moreover, the feature also enables them to review their trip fare and complaint if they suspect an unjust charge. At the end of each trip, the app generates an automated email and a text message which are directed to the email address and phone number associated with passenger’s profile.

Jump to: pricing structure

Driver App with Taxi Management Software

The dispatch platform includes driver app which capacitates drivers to increase efficiency and earn more in lesser time. The most notable features of driver app are as follows.

Real-time Route Optimization

Driver app provides the most suitable route to passenger’s pickup location and then to the drop-off location. This AI-based route planner updates the route in real-time depending on the changing traffic volumes on various roads. The recommendation of route depends on multiple factors including traffic volume, distance to the intended location, and quality of roads.

Eliminating Idle Time

One of the most painful factors for taxi drivers and gig workers of ride-hailing companies is the excessive idle time before one gets a ride. CabStartup driver app informs drivers about other drivers in the vicinity. This ability allows them to relocate to a region within the geo-fence where demand is relatively higher. In this way, drivers can markedly reduce idle time.

Automated Fare Split

As per usual practices, a part of the fare goes to the taxi company while the rest of it is divided between driver and vehicle owner. Instead of grilling the administration in manually calculating share of each stakeholder, CabStartup automatically splits the fare. The app shares the information of split with drivers, vehicle owners, and admins while keeping it hidden from passengers.

Change Availability Status

The taxi management app allows drivers to go offline whenever they intend so. While taxi companies keep full-time employees, ride-hailing startups mostly hire gig workers. The workers in latter case are not confined to serve fixed number of hours. Instead, they can go offline as many times in a day as they want. CabStartup facilitates them by going offline with a single tap on smartphone app.

Drivers in Vicinity

Each driver is able to determine the number of drivers and the consequent degree of demand in an area. The demand varies inversely with number of drivers. An area has more idle drivers when available vehicles are more than number of requesting passengers. Vicinity assessment allows drivers to reposition them in a way that each of them is able to get rides.

Passenger Request Details

The app shows details of passenger who requests the ride. Apart from facilitation in ensuring that driver picks the right passenger, this feature also enables drivers to assess passengers through accumulative of their ratings. Since the app allows drivers to cancel a ride request, the drivers can decide to cancel it at any time before picking up the passenger.

Easy Communication

There are instances where driver is unable to locate passenger due to incorrect pickup location set by the latter. The app enables drivers to facilitate passengers by communicating with them in real-time via messages as well as phone call. CabStartup integrates either in-app chat and call or regular text messages and phone calls. The former requires continuous and fast internet connection. Thus, in-app conversation works well in regions with high-speed internet availability.

Feedback about Passenger

In the early years of ride-hailing industry, only passengers had the ability to rate drivers. This limitation was highly discouraging at drivers’ end since they were unable to share their side of the story in case of a bad feedback. CabStartup driver app ensures that your drivers can also rate passengers and provide feedback about them.

E-Wallet and History

Like passengers, drivers can maintain in-app wallet which keeps them updated about their day-long, week-long, and month-long earnings. They can also seek reports on previous rides with minute details including duration of ride, distance traveled, and amount of earning. This history assists drivers in settling the disputes by providing actionable evidence.

Dispatch Panel Software for Taxi Business

Apart from customer and driver apps, a comprehensive dispatch platform also includes dispatch panel. Apps are completely automated with no requirement for middleman software. However, there are unusual circumstances where dispatch panel is vital. Following are the use cases of dispatch panel.

Ensuring Security of Riders

The panel shows each vehicle in real-time unless the driver goes offline. It is mandatory for drivers to remain online while they are scheduled to pick-up and drop-off a ride. Thus, the dispatcher can monitor each ride inside geo-fence. Moreover, they can zoom-in and out to view details. Even if the rider goes offline during a pending ride, dispatcher can use micro details to investigate the case.

Auto Dispatch

Dispatch panel serves as the gateway between passenger’s request and driver’s acceptance. This gateway ensures that each ride request gets the most appropriate ride depending on one’s choice of vehicle and current location. The search request from passenger app goes to the dispatch panel which connects the request to a driver.

Cloud-based Cab Dispatch Software

The request is served at dispatch panel to prevent excessive load on passenger app. CabStartup ensures that app carries less size as compared to other ride-hailing companies. The cloud-based dispatch panel is scalable. In essence, the dispatch remains active and provides seamless services regardless of the heavy load during peak hours. Thus, both passengers and drivers get a remarkable user experience while dispatch software takes care of all the performance-intensive activities.

Dispute Settlement

Cab dispatch software is capable of sharing minute information regarding rides. This ability enables dispatch staff to settle disputes and address complaints from passengers. Although passengers and drivers get a copy of electronic invoice at the end of the ride through email and text, yet dispatch software allows settling old disputes as well. The dynamic databases provide requisite information within seconds.

Admin Panel

The business owners, executives, and managers need to know the business insights, performance shortfalls, and factors that are contributing to high efficiency. Admin panel is a complete software system which takes care of each of these activities.

Executive Information System

EIS is an information-rich dashboard depicting data visualization of various aspects of business. It shares the number of rides in a specified time period, percentage changes, consumer behavior toward marketing campaigns, and a bunch of other insightful pieces of information. EIS allows owners to evaluate performance, and hence align strategy to regional needs.

Controlling Driver Status

Administration should have the ability to block or reinstate any driver. CabStartup admin panel allows admins to perform this activity in a matter of seconds. Moreover, they can also schedule the reinstatement time. In essence, an admin can block a driver from getting rides and set the panel to automatically reinstate driver after a predetermined duration.

Redefining Fares and Geo-fence

Admin panel enables authorized staff to redefine fares of services. Although the surge pricing automatically applies when the availability of vehicles drops below a threshold, yet admins can change the base fare too. Furthermore, admin panel in this taxi service management software allows admins to modify geo-fence or sketch a new one altogether.

Commission Percentage Calculator

Commission calculation is an automated task performed by an underlying calculator. It saves the information about each ride carried by every driver and continues to calculate percentage. The interface is designed so as to provide commission of every driver separately below one’s name. The panel also provides the ability to share results with relevant drivers.

Access Hierarchy

Entire platform of taxi management software has multiple levels of data. The employees, gig workers, and executives possess different levels of access hierarchy. A driver cannot access information which is irrelevant to one’s job. This hierarchical structure of data is referred to as Access Control Layer or ACL. Multiple security layers protect the data from unauthorized access.

Sending Promotional Offers

Promotional campaigns are crucial for taxi business marketing. Admin panel enables owners to send promo and referral codes to the selection of users. The owners may select the users based on a number of factors. For instance, they can reward a frequent user with occasional discount or an abandoned user to restart using services. Referral codes are intended to target users who have never used the services before.

Selection between Dispatch Platform and Taxi Management App Clone

App clones are specific for businesses which intend to acquire either driver or passenger apps separately. These apps do not have dispatch and admin panels integrated with them. The Uber app clones are complete packages with pre-built features. Following comparison should enable you to decide which option works best for your business.

Pricing Structure for Taxi Booking and Dispatch Software

CabStartup has a diverse but crystal-clear pricing structure with no underlying charges apart from those stated. The owners targeting app clones need to share the detailed features with our experts that they intend to incorporate in apps. Thus, the price range of app clone may vary depending on the desired features. However, the owners aiming to acquire dispatch platform can use one-time enterprise solution.

CabStartup offers all four modules including passenger apps, driver apps, dispatch panel, and admin panel absolutely free for the first two drivers. Besides, you can also access every module of taxi management software free of cost for 14 days. This cost-free offer is aimed at enabling you to evaluate our platform.

One-Time Payment

Alternatively, you may access the entire platform by paying all at once once. The cost of one-time payment solution varies depending on the number of drivers. Mostly, businesses with 100 or more drivers use our one-time payment plan because it is more economical to them. Regardless of the plan you acquire, the platform is scalable. In essence, you can increase the number of drivers to as many as you wish.

Additional Features

Although CabStartup platform and app clone are comprehensive solutions which completely fulfill the needs of your business. However, you may choose to acquire following additional features to gain notable competitive advantage over rivals.

CabStartup pricing: Visit the website page

White Label Taxi App

CabStartup apps serve as a white label solution. In essence, you can customize the apps with your business name, logo, motto, and other descriptive details. This customization costs $200 only. As a result of this customization, you will be able to enhance the brand identity while keeping CabStartup platform as the underlying software.

Custom Payment Gateway

Braintree – a notable payment gateway and a subsidiary of PayPal – is already integrated with the platform. However, you can have a gateway of your choice as well or a custom gateway which hides the identity of payment service provider. The acquisition of custom gateway takes additional charges of $3000 while its integration with platform takes $20 only.

Brand Designing

If you are unsure about brand name, the logo, and other branding attributes, CabStartup ride-hailing experts and designers can do this job for you. Our branding professionals can develop logos, icons, app theme, color scheme, and other promotional features. The development of these branding features takes $50 only.

Do I Need Software for Taxi Business

Taxi management software is applicable in a range of business models. If you are uncertain if this platform is going to be valuable for your business or not, consider the following points.

I am an existing taxi company owner

You own a taxi company which operates on traditional practices including manual dispatch and radio call service. The acquisition and integration of CabStartup platform would significantly cut down your operational cost. Moreover, it will increase your market share with marked improvement in services.

If you have already tried a software system but it did not work well, CabStartup can eliminate the problems and pull you out of the crisis. You can use the free trial to find out why CabStartup would work notably better than any other platform provider.

I own or intend to introduce bike taxi services

The densely populated and vast urban areas are suitable for starting bike taxi or scooter sharing service. CabStartup platform does not only help bike taxi businesses but shared mobility startups as well. However, bike-pooling requires addition of few features which enable bikes to have smart devices that can be controlled via smartphone apps.

I want to launch another ride-hailing startup

Ride-hailing and other on-demand startups are gaining remarkable traction from investors. You can choose to launch a startup which targets the same market as Uber and Lyft. Our experts can assist you in crafting an effective idea or sketching the scope of a business model if you struggling in tackling these challenges.

Moreover, you can also use CabStartup platform for launching an on-demand healthcare startup with medical transportation software which enables customers to seek services of doctors and nurses at home. Similarly, a food delivery or parcel delivery service also uses the same technology with few cosmetic amendments.

Let’s Get It Started

The development of taxi management software is disrupting for some taxi companies whereas revolutionary for others. The taxi owners who utilize this software are able to increase their profit margins by manifolds. However, the ones who refuse to use it face disruption sooner or later.

CabStartup is the reason of success behind dozens of startups and taxi companies currently operating around the world. We would love to become your technology provider. If you still have questions, contact us so that one of our experts can assist you. Choose your plan right now and start evaluation of CabStartup platform by using the free trial.

By Shahrukh Satti 0 Comments

28 Jun 2019 Friday

How to Start a Taxi Business from Scratch to Summit

Most of the businesses from a century back no longer exist. Taxi industry is one of the businesses which did not only survive but continues to prosper. It is undeniable that technologies over the time have made a number of updates to taxi industry, but the foundation of such businesses remained same. As taxi companies are growing unceasingly, new entrepreneurs are facing a range of challenges. Thus, most of them are curious to find about how to start a taxi business.

This article coupled with the next one precisely presents the secrets of starting a successful taxi business. Apart from market analysis and top taxi business ideas, it also shares brief information about CabStartup platform.

Get to know about features of CabStartup ride-hailing solution

Market Research and Consumer demand

Before embarking on the campaign for identifying taxi business requirements, you need to determine if your chosen location requires a taxi business at all. A market already abundant with taxi companies needs massive initial investment to outrank existing businesses.

To avoid excessive capital inflow, one workaround is to identify the shortcomings of existing businesses and provide a solution to them. For instance, Via rideshare started in 2012 when Uber was already ruling the major US cities. However, Via managed to seize a part of market share by providing the solution to relatively higher fares. The only tradeoff was the fact that passengers traveling to the same locality had to travel together.

Identification of appropriate taxi business model requires assessing consumer demand. A market saturated with taxi companies may still be a decent choice if your business idea presents a unique feature that addresses challenges of passengers.

Competitor analysis is also essential in market research. This analysis is not an alternative to determining consumer behavior but a supplement to it. Competitors do not only enable you to highlight loopholes in the local taxi industry but also allow learning from their success.

Filtering the taxi business ideas

Evaluation of markets, assessment of consumers, and identification of competitors’ limitations allow you to make a list of ideas and filter the most effective ones out of them. Some of the most notable ideas emerged in recent times include:

Shared taxi or carpooling

Low-income regions are not the only ones effective enough for carpooling. The metropolitans including Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles are also proving to be productive grounds. One significant reason is the fact that passengers can divide costs without having to acquire public transit systems.

Carpooling is also noteworthy because governments around the world are encouraging it to reduce traffic volume and preserve biodiversity. Research confirms that rideshare businesses are likely to pass through registration and licensing stages far quicker than traditional taxi companies.

Venture capitalists as well as angel investors are more inclined to fund businesses aiming shared mobility model. Thus, shared taxis are likely to secure a significant capital influx at the earliest stages.

Taxi for Dedicated Customers

Instead of waiting for passengers to reach your driver and book a ride, a dedicated customer-base is a considerable option. School and college buses usually cover only a selection of routes. A large number of students require a ride to reach one of the pickup points. Dedicated rides can fill up this void by moving students between their residence and bus pickup points.

Similarly, you may also provide dedicated services to corporate and public sector employees. Another model is to offer services for dropping and picking passengers from airports. This service does not require fixed customer base. However, airport location remains fixed.

One of the decisions to take prior to starting a taxi business is to determine whether to keep a fleet or not. Most taxi companies operating in US metropolitans own vehicles. However, on-demand apps including Uber and Lyft are register vehicles from private owners. Although both models have pros and cons, yet latter is relatively better. It requires sharing profit with vehicle owners in return of prevention of purchase and maintenance costs.

Taxi Dispatch software

It is highly unwise to adopt decades old taxi strategies when on-demand taxi apps are making rounds even in the least developed countries. Current business requirements push entrepreneurs to take services at consumers’ doorstep instead of forcing consumers to perform most of the work. Entrepreneurs sticking to traditional services end up in suffering from business failure.

While going back to old-school taxi strategy is out of question, the choice to select the features of dispatch software remains with you. Some on-demand ride-hailing companies including Uber provide exclusive vehicles as well as carpooling while others like Via offer specific services only.

You can decide to broaden the scope as much as the budget allows, but need to ensure that the app includes features which are essential for on-demand taxi business. CabStartup platform provides a number of pre-integrated features for entrepreneurs who rebrand our platform as one of their businesses.

Some of the most notable features of this platform include following

App for passengers: This app enables customers to make a profile, view the data of their past, ongoing and upcoming rides, and pay via one of the payment options.

App for drivers: Each driver can have a unique profile as well with a range of features including ride acceptance and cancellation, communication with scheduled passenger and information regarding earnings of the day, week, and month.

Admin and Dispatch Panel: Although software is able to automatically connect passengers with the nearest drivers, yet admin panel allows surveillance. Administrators can also update preferences depending on customer’s urgency. Dispatch panel enables the platform to dispatch the most suitable taxi for requesting individual. The suitability depends on customer’s location, type of requested service, and driver’s consent.

Route Optimization: AI-based route planning considers aspects including traffic volume on various roads, distance to reach destination, and quality of roads on each route.

Data Analytics: Any on-demand business requires extensive data analysis techniques to determine growth over time. An efficient set of techniques would share the high-performing areas as well as those failing to perform up to the mark.

Process Automation: In a traditional setting, a customer would call taxi company to schedule rides, share feedback, lodge complaints. The admin and other staff members would perform these tasks manually. However, CabStartup platform automates these tasks and promises to perform them in negligible time with remarkable efficiency as compared to humans.

One of the upcoming articles shares details on marketing of taxi business. You would love to experience our platform. Get on-board to get the free trial version today.