Uber London Archives - Cabstartup

Tag: Uber London

Facial Recognition Software for Driver Identity Verification

The evolution of the ride-hailing industry might have changed fate in favor of passengers but the rise in security vulnerabilities is constantly haunting the stakeholders. Major operators including Uber and Lyft are trying to calm riders, drivers and regulators by placing some cosmetic modifications to their software systems but the incidents compromising security continues to increase. The industry requires comprehensive driver identity verification in their system.

This article shares how facial recognition technology capacitates ride-hailing operators to ensure that only the registered drivers can accept the ride requests.

Why do ride hailing operators require facial recognition?

The authority responsible for regulating transport in London banned Uber from operating in the city for shortcomings in its software system. The primary issue is the fact that unregistered drivers were able to use the account of registered ones to accept ride requests.

Regulators also revealed that the drivers once barred due to excessive complaints managed to register new accounts. People from around the world have protested on multiple occasions to push governments for strict regulations.

However, Uber had to face decisive backlash after one of the students in South Carolina was murdered allegedly during her ride with Uber. London is the first major metropolitan to ban Uber. Lyft and all major ride-hailing companies face the same challenges.

Privately owned ride-hailing companies rarely disclose any security incident unless it manages to get viral through some other channel. Uber and Lyft are bound to share the reports after going public. The recent report from Uber reveals an alarming 3,000 harassment cases in 2018 occurring in the US alone.

Ride-Hailing Safety with Facial Recognition Technology

Ride-hailing business operators have tried a range of measures to ensure security. None of them, however, seems to work. The primary problem with this lack of effectiveness is the irresponsibility of both drivers and passengers to follow newly defined procedures.

Facial recognition is suitable because such a software solution would leave no other choice for drivers but to reveal their identity – and that too at multiple times while the status is active.

How facial recognition works?

The technology integrated by CabStartup in its cloud based ride-hailing platform involves sophisticated pattern recognition algorithms. Regulators can ensure that the driver is the same person as shown in driver ID.

The computer vision algorithm performs 3-Dimension recognition by identifying the shape of the face. This identification also includes details in eyes, nose, forehead and cheeks. The system compares even the minute details of an image with another picture of the same individual in the database and generates a score of confidence. Verification remains successful only if the score is above a predetermined benchmark.

The earliest attempts for facial recognition at the beginning of the 21st century failed because there were very few parameters collectively responsible for generating this score. Nevertheless, the advancement in the algorithms now provides the ability to verify a person with an extremely small probability of error.

Experts at CabStartup integrate facial recognition features in the platform once a client requests for it. The number of requests for this integration is markedly increasing since the South Carolina incident.

Learn more: CabStartup Ride-hailing Platform

Successful Implementation in Other Industries

The success is evident from the use of this technology in a range of other cases. Smartphone unlock remains the most notable case. Apple added the face unlock feature with iPhone X. This feature generated a massive response as customers shared largely encouraging reviews. Almost all major smartphone manufacturers have successfully introduced face unlock in their products.

Moreover, face recognition is now widely used by security agencies and metropolitan administrations around the world to maintain law and order. China has implemented the largest city surveillance scheme with over a billion cameras.

Driver Identity Verification

Previous attempts at ensuring ride-hailing safety

Uber and Lyft have introduced a number of software features and policies in the past to increase safety of drivers and passengers. The industry is witnessing a wide spectrum of features, policies and standards introduced over the past few years.

Also read: Ride-hailing Platform Features

Notable security features
  1. The riders get in-app reminders to verify license plate and car type with the information available in driver’s details. They receive this reminder as soon as the driver changes status to “arrived” at the rider’s location.
  2. The riders can share trip details and real-time location with anyone in their contact list. This feature enables the receiving body to track the ride as long as the GPS location of rider is active.
  3. Uber made it mandatory for drivers to take snap selfies from an option available inside the app. These selfies are then shared with the admin panels to ensure Uber driver identity verification.
  4. There are automated software systems that alert passengers when a vehicle goes significantly off track from paths that lead to the destination.
  5. Uber announced a feature that would allow both drivers and passengers to report unwelcoming behavior in real time so that the administrations can take action in time.
  6. There are panic buttons already integrated in Uber and Lyft that allow riders to call 911 instantly. An action of pushing this button shares the details of the ride including the identity of driver and vehicle. It also shares a real-time location with the authorities.
Notable policies and standards
  1. Lyft suggests riders to compare pictures on ID and driver license. However, this policy is not likely to work because the picture on the license is usually old and the current appearance of the driver might markedly vary.
  2. Lyft also recently announced driver education prior to registration. The company executives state that the courses included in the training are vast enough to educate drivers about their role and limitation on the job.
  3. Both Uber and Lyft claim to perform background checks for drivers’ track record. They state that each driver’s record is also verified for the criminal free background.
  4. The companies check in with riders and drivers to find if they need help. This development usually occurs if the administrators feel an unexpected behavior of ride. For instance, the passengers and drivers in a vehicle going off track from destination often receive check-in calls.

Be sure your riders and drivers are safe

The ban on Uber in London was an unfortunate development. You need to be sure that your taxi business or ride-hailing startup does not meet the same fate in any part of the world.

The facial recognition feature integrated with CabStartup provides remarkable precision. The technology has been tested by our development team in a large number of cases including blur images and snaps from various angles.

You can test the CabStartup platform right now and continue to use it for two weeks without being charged. Start your free trial today.

By Shahrukh Satti 0 Comments

London ride-hailing market wide open amid Uber ban

Transport for London (TfL) – the authority responsible for transport regulations in London – refused to renew license of Uber this past Monday. Consequently, a massive ride-hailing market in the metropolitan, currently dominated by Uber, is set to become an open field for new operators to jump in.

London makes up the biggest market for Uber on the east of Atlantic and fifth biggest in the world with its 3.5 million users. One of the company’s executives in August 2018 stated the number of registered Uber drivers at 45,000 in London.

Uber applied for five-year long license in 2017 to operate in the city but the application was turned down stating lack of fitness of software and vehicles. Instead, the company was able to get an 18-month long license. This renewed license was scheduled to expire in past September but the TfL extended it for another two months.

Get ahead of your potential competitors and grab the opportunity created by Uber’s imminent exit from London. Here is a guide to starting an on-demand taxi business.

Causes of ban as stated by the TfL

Row between TfL and Uber began in 2017 when regulator highlighted loopholes in safety measures. The TfL refused to renew license but London Magistrate decided partially in favor of Uber in 2018 allowing ride sharing prodigy to continue operation. A two-month long grace period ended past Monday after the 18-month long license expired in September this year.

Following are the reasons that, according to the TfL, are primary causes of banning Uber:

  1. Unauthorised drivers using accounts of registered drivers. Transport for London claims unauthorised drivers completed 14,000 trips.
  2. Many of the suspended drivers are still operating with new accounts. Uber, though guaranteed earlier, did not work on developing the mechanism that would have identified unverified users.
  3. Some drivers did not have right insurance. An appropriate insurance plan is mandatory for every private hire and rideshare driver in London.

Also read: Rideshare software solutions for multiple business models

The untold causes and impact on ride-hailing

The TfL is reiterating on these causes for over two years. However, there are some unstated reasons as well that might have impacted the decision. Following are the most likely causes other than the ones stated above.

  1. London Mayor hinted at making ride-hailing reforms last year in the wake of court’s decision to grant 18-month license. The current mayor is critical of Uber even before he took the charge and believes that the absence of limitation on the number of drivers is causing traffic congestion in the city.
  2. Environmental bodies are calling on Uber to reconsider its vehicle eligibility by making electric cars and HEVs essential. Statistics indicate that air pollution increased by manifolds since Uber arrived in the city in 2012.
  3. Local taxi association in London repeatedly called for a ban on Uber since they believed that the playing field was not level. The mayor explicitly stated his plan of providing level ground for both established business owners and new entrants.

Although Uber was banned two years back for more or less the same reasons as stated on Monday by TfL, yet they are less likely to get another acquittal. The company managed to satisfy the court last time by reshuffling the top executives. The extension was renewed again two months back on conditions that the ride sharing company would demonstrate strict measures against drivers’ violation.

Also read: Guide to acquiring taxi management software

However, they are not expected to be able to pacify judges this time around because they city has now other ride-sharing options as well. Uber also revealed a plan of making London operations entirely based on electric vehicles. The company is yet to demonstrate its progress in this regard.

Opportunities for entrepreneurs and taxi companies

London Free Press in 2018 reported Uber taking half of the total trips conducted by all private ride-hailing operators. This implies an enormous market share is up for grab as Uber is forced to halt operations after three weeks of license expiry date.

New players are already flexing their muscles to fill the major part in the impending void. Indian ride-hailing provider Ola announced to launch service in the next few weeks while Bolt from Estonia is aiming to expand operations.

However, the market share of Uber is so big in the UK capital that multiple small and large operators can jump in to replace the San Francisco based ride-hailing giant.

Take a look at our success stories from ride-hailing market.

Although it is still debatable whether Uber is able to make its way back in London any time soon, yet we believe that the company’s business would not be the same even if it manages to return. The regulators have all eyes on this ride-hailing company that has so far failed to implement a fair deal of surveillance system.

Uber-London-Ban

Today, a number of new and established operators are aiming to fill in the void. The city administration is all set to provide opportunities to new entrepreneurs and existing taxi business owners. Thus, the Magistrate is less likely to show flexibility this time around.

If you are aiming to launch a ride-hailing service that would partially or entirely replace Uber, it is recommended that you start the pre-launch ride-hailing marketing as soon as possible. Create the hype and spread the proposed name of your startup.

Meanwhile, you can work on developing the requisite infrastructure including mobile apps and admin panels. Using this approach, you would be able to launch your ride-hailing startup in less than month.

Place the hook right now to catch ride-hailing fish

Uber ban is unfortunate for the company and its loyal users. However, the ban is a blessing for entrepreneurs and taxi company owners as they would be able to establish. Consolidate their businesses in the absence of their top competitor.

CabStartup enables ride-hailing startups to establish, expand and sustain businesses around the world. You can re brand our ride-hailing platform with the design of your choice and customise it with additional features. The platform includes native mobile apps for customers as well as drivers. Besides, it also includes an admin panel for administrative tasks.

Our cloud based on-demand ride-hailing software solution is enriched with insightful dashboards and a range of features that assist your drivers and passengers. The dashboards share valuable business reports that enable you to identify areas of improvement.

We would help you prevent the problems that outlawed Uber. CabStartup can integrate the feature upon request that triggers facial or fingerprint recognition of driver before starting a ride. This feature would turn down any unverified driver from conducting a trip.

Another suggestion is to register hybrid and electric vehicles only to promote electric car taxi. Since you will be accessing third-party vehicles. The cost of operation would be the same as that with combustion engine vehicles.

Test CabStartup free of charges for two weeks trial period. Contact us to share your ride-hailing business plan and our experts would take you from there.

By Shahrukh Satti 0 Comments
Send a Message
Get Demo