Taxi-by-SMS for Bucharest
- Posted by Sara on October 20th, 2006 filed in Transportation
Opportunity: Technology-enabled taxi service
Most of these days, trying to obtain a taxi in Bucharest is a grueling task. You call one taxi company, get on hold for a couple of minutes; a grim-voiced operator picks up, and you listen to the two-way radio chatter for a few minutes until you are put on hold again; the operator picks up and asks for your location a second time, holds, asks again… and finally you get the verdict: no taxis available. Repeat with the next company.
Many taxi drives are predictable: you know a week before that you need to leave at 9:10 to make it to that 10 o’clock meeting! It would take the pain out if one could make a reservation a day before; yet Bucharest taxi companies will not accomodate reservations.
A taxi company that would implement the necessary technology in order to offer reliable service will stand out on this market. The two-way radios that have been used forever can be replaced with GPS-based systems, that will allow drivers to receive text messages with relevant destinations and accept them if they are free. Despite the high initial investment costs, this will save personnel costs later.
Taxis could be called by text messages (SMS), web-based forms, and reserved ahead of time.
Having a GPS-enabled computerized system that gathers data about routes choices and time necessary at different times of the day will enable such a company to also offer clients price estimates on the website - something that will contribute to creating a high level of trust among clients. Given the current climate of distrust and aversion to the tactics many cab drivers use, this will create an enormous capital. Conversations about negative taxi experiences are very common - a highly positive experience will be the beneficiary of strong word-of-mouth marketing.
Written by Sara
October 25th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
[...] An earlier post detailed opportunities for using technology in order to provide a more reliable taxi service. Of course, this would have to be supported by other basic features, such as driver training and testing, reliable driving (taxi drivers are notorious for giving unsuspecting passengers adventure rides). The main barrier to this type of business is the limited number of taxi licenses the local administration gives out. At this point, Bucharest has 9500 taxi licenses. No additional ones can be provided, and the current licenses expire in 2009. There is a waiting list for redistributing licenses that are withdrawn, but the wait is long and hopeless. However, new legislation will force companies to replace all taxicabs older than three years with new, air-conditioned cars with safety features. This will impose a heavy burden on companies using old locally-manufactured Dacia cars. People who entered the taxicab business because it promised a quick profit will think twice about making this sizeable investment. This opens a ripe opportunity for rolling up several small taxi companies, replacing the cars with the latest hybrid cars, equipping them with GPS technology, and quickly gaining an important position on the market. Tags:bucharest, roll up taxi Written by Sara [...]
March 7th, 2007 at 9:10 am
[...] As far as implementation, this service should have options specially created to suit women needs, such as baby chairs, a little make-up corner, etc. It should focus on safety and reliability, as that is what women want from a cab company. The women drivers don’t usually swear or listen to annoying music like male drivers do. You could also add-in a general option like taxi-by-sms . [...]
March 8th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
[...] As far as implementation, this service should have options specially created to suit women needs, such as baby chairs, a little make-up corner, etc. It should focus on safety and reliability, as that is what women want from a cab company. The women drivers don’t usually swear or listen to annoying music like male drivers do. You could also add-in a general option like taxi-by-sms . [...]
June 5th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
[...] Just found out today that Sprint Taxi offers an online form for calling a taxicab. We had written earlier about technology-enabled taxis, and it’s very exciting to see this begin to be implemented. We look forward to trying their online form and reporting on the results! Tags:cab, online, taxi, taxi bucharest Transportation Related posts: [...]
March 20th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
este interesant, chear foarte frumos…