Most taxi business owners are convinced about the effectiveness of taxi management software like Uber app. They understand the fact that passengers are far more likely to acquire one of the ride-hailing services than traditional taxi.
However, they are unsure about the scope of software which will be sufficient to run the business efficiently. Such owners can choose one or more systems from the following choices depending on their business needs. The selection should follow the order in this article.
Taxi Dispatch and Monitoring Panel
The command and control system of a taxi business comprises the dispatch panel. Such systems also exist in traditional businesses. However, there is no real- time monitoring mechanism for administrators. Dispatch panel assists companies in the following ways.
Responding to Customers’ Requests
When a customer requests a ride, the drivers in the vicinity and admin controlling the dispatch panel get a ping. Any of the pinged drivers can take the ride after approval from the admin.
To ensure that this series of actions occur in shortest time, many apps offer automated admin approval. Still, the decision of providing this facility rests on the owner.
Dispatching the Most Suitable Vehicle
Every passenger has a location-based radius which allows the nearest idle drivers to accept the ride request. However, taxi fleet management software should ensure that the choice of driver also involves few other factors.
- If a vehicle is scheduled to drop off a passenger, the driver of this vehicle may still accept another ride. This case should only occur if the estimated arrival for riding passenger is less than five minutes.
- Apart from being in the radius of passenger, the priority is to dispatch the driver with shortest arrival time. A vehicle may consume more time to reach the passenger’s location if remains stuck in traffic.
Monitoring the Ride
The surveillance and tracking of every fleet vehicle enhance the management significantly. This ability increases the security of riders. In case the driver stops sharing live location, the admins still have the information about last known location.
Dispatch software also allows the assessment of every driver individually. In a traditional setting, the admins have to manually add the record for each driver. Consequently, the probability of error remains higher.
Settling the Disputes
Although efficient systems leave little room for dispute, yet it should allow admins to settle it if a dispute arises.
Some of the most frequent causes of clash include discount application and ride cancellation surcharge. Besides, some passengers may also have complaints regarding drivers’ professionalism.
Instead of having the passenger to call or show at company’s office, the system should allow in-app complaint registration.
Passenger-specific Taxi Service Management Software
This software system is completely different from dispatch panel in both features and structure. The primary distinction lies in the primary device. Admin app runs primarily on a laptop, a personal computer, or a tablet. In contrast, almost every passenger uses handheld device including a smartphone or a tablet.
Scheduling a Ride
Passengers are able to schedule the ride and enter the locations for pickup and drop-off. The owners should note that the users want as minimum number of smartphone taps as possible. Every additional step before confirmation adds to their annoyance.
After assessing various rideshare apps including Uber, Lyft, and DiDi, we are sure that the quickest booking requires at least two steps. However, this is only the case when passenger selects one of the recommended destinations. This recommendation is based on the frequently traveled locations.
Moreover, the latency rate and wait time after scheduling are also influencing factors. Latency rate is the time before an admin dispatches the driver. Wait time is the duration between dispatch and arrival.
The chart depicts that UberX takes considerably lesser time as compared to traditional taxi which does not have dispatch software. UberSelect and UberBLACK take even less number of minutes because their demand is smaller.
Options for Drop-off Locations
Some passengers do not want to reveal the drop-off location for various reasons. Thus, the option to enter locations for drop-off should stay with the passenger.
At times, the passengers need to visit more than one destination with short wait time during ride. For instance, a rider may want to pick an accompanying rider from a location and then travel to another location. Such passengers should have the choice of multiple stops. However, there should also be limitations so that the addition of stops does not increase the ride time significantly.
Payment Flexibility
While the competition in taxi industry is growing with the increasing demand, the customers expect highest facilitation from service providers. Flexibility in payment is one of the factors that attract customers.
Your drivers do not need to carry hard cash or point of sales (POS) terminal. Instead, the passengers should be able to pay via in-app wallet. If the wallet does not have the required amount, the app should push the remaining amount as negative credit. Hence, customers can pay later.
Driver-specific Taxi Manager Software
Many features in driver modules are similar to those of passengers. However, there are differences too.
Accepting Ride Requests
Taxi booking management software should allow drivers to accept ride requests. The app may also provide the flexibility to cancel a ride with varying penalty. The ride-hailing service providers often block a driver’s account for the day if one cancels more rides than certain limit.
Record for Personal Accounts
Like passengers, software should ensure that each driver has a separate account. This ability enables drivers to view their performance statistics. These statistics should also be available to admins so that they may reward or punish the driver based on one’s performance.
Conclusion
You do not have to necessarily acquire every module of taxi software. Instead, get one of the modules. Nevertheless, automating the processes on driver, passenger and admin sides ensures high value for taxi business.
You may acquire system on a subscription-based scheme or through a one-time payment. Start your free trial right now.