With the rise of rideshare platforms, it would be easy to think taxis would be failing or struggling to get by, but that is not entirely true. Rideshare companies rely on technology to function and find success. Traditional taxi services and companies are also now turning to technology to stay relevant as the world continues to change and shift with the needs and wants of culture and society.
The Uber and Lyft Impact
Uber and Lyft have revolutionized the transportation industry by creating a tech company dedicated to getting people where they need to be with a few taps on their phones. It has seriously affected the traditional taxi service, but taxis are evolving with the times and the technology. Taxis have been using ride hailing apps for years. However, they are having to change how these apps work in order to stay relevant and compete with ride sharing apps.
The Taxi Apps that are Fighting Back
Many of the taxi services are creating apps for their riders to utilize. One of the appeals apps have for consumers is that people can hail their ride right to their location and pay within the app. The ability to pay before the ride means all the passenger has to do is hop out of the car when they arrive instead of having to figure out how to pay by card or with cash and wait on their change.
Passengers also like the flat rate of ride sharing apps instead of the varying rate that taxis have to comply with based on meters. Passengers like convenience and transparency, so taxis are finding ways of giving this to their customers. There are universal taxi hailing apps that work with several companies in a city or across the country. This allows people to order and pay for their ride all with the convenience and transparency they have come to expect from rideshare companies.
In a world where eco friendly is at the forefront of most everyone’s minds, taxi companies are also able to capitalize on this more than ride sharing companies. People want to know they are having a small carbon footprint. Several taxi companies are choosing to take their companies to have hybrid or completely electric fleets of cars. It is a challenge for companies to go green, but passengers would rather ride green than not.
Taxi services around the country are revolutionizing their fleets by taking advantage of technology by creating apps or optimizing their existing apps. This makes the taxi experience more memorable and convenient. Choosing to spend more on green and eco friendly vehicles is also making the companies more appealing and competitive.
