How To Build The Ultimate Taxi Hailing App?

Getting a taxi in almost every major city in the world is easy now. There is no need to wait at street corners waving at passing taxis.

In major cities in India, even three-wheeler auto rickshaws are easy to get. All these are thanks to Uber, which has made a mark in history as the top taxi-hailing company.

Mobile apps have made every service in the world very easy. But Uber possibly is the most popular on-demand app.

It has managed to fill a need of the common man who suffered at the hands of drivers who laid down their own rules.

It has also helped many taxi drivers to earn a decent living without having run here and there for passengers.

What Makes Uber So Popular?

Most people love Uber. Many reasons have made the app famous. More people use Uber to find a taxi even when they are out on the streets.

They do this instead of standing there and waving down an empty cab. That means that there must be something beneficial to the passenger.

Wherever you book your taxi from, you know when it is going to arrive. The app helps you to track the cab as soon as your booking is complete.

You can see where the taxi is at any point in time. The geolocation helps to locate cars. The cars send their exact location once every 5 seconds.

Passengers don't have to stand on the street waiting for the cab. They know precisely when the car is going to arrive. So, they need to get out of the house only at that time.

Unlike hailing a cab, an Uber cab will come to where you want and pick you up.

One of the things that cross people's mind is about the fare. They keep wondering how much the fare is going to be at the end of the ride.

With a mobile app like Uber, you can know the fare even before you book the cab. There are no surprises at the end of the ride.

With Uber, you don't have to carry cash. You can use your mobile wallets to make the payment. You can also use your credit or debit cards to pay a ride. The usual method of paying cash is also available with the Uber app.

Uber allows you to book a ride for later. It means that you can book your trip to the airport in advance instead of looking for a cab at the last minute.

This feature is handy for people who are frequently traveling. As soon as they finalize their travel program, they can book the cab too.

Safety is a significant aspect when you travel to big cities. Instead of getting into a cab with a driver you don't know, it is safer to go by Uber.

You get the full details of the driver. You can even share this information with a close friend of yours so that the friend knows who you are riding with.

All the above facilities are possible only because of the mobile cab-hailing app. It is the thing that allows people to use the cab service.

It is the app that provides all these conveniences and safety. The cab service owes its success to the ease of use of the app and the features that it has.

●  Uber is the most popular cab-hailing app

●  The app provides a lot of facilities to the passengers that they prefer using it than hailing a cab themselves.

●  With Uber, the passengers know precisely when the cab is reaching them.

●  Passengers can locate the cab on a real-time basis.

●  The Uber app lets you know the fare you must pay in advance.

●  You have many methods to pay for your ride.

●  You can schedule your Uber ride so that you don't have to book the trip at the last minute.

●  The driver's information is available with you even before the ride arrives. 

Why Should You Create An Uber-like App?

The question is, why Develop An App Like Uber? Let’s analyze that in this section. The fact is that you should build an app that is better than Uber.

You should get an excellent mobile application development company to include additional features in the app. That should make it more accessible. The cab-hailing service will provide something extra to the people making it a success.

There is still potential for on-demand cab service. Uber or other services have not penetrated every city in the world.

There are second and third-tier cities which can benefit from the use of such a cab service. You can develop an app for these places and get the cabs there to use your app.

There are also certain niche services which you can offer. On-demand services for hospitals is a good start. Some hospitals can call the cab using your app to take their patients home.

You can also provide unique features like wheelchair compatibility. You can also add child-seat to your cars.

There indeed is space for more cab services on the lines of Uber. When you are going to build the app for cab-hailing services, you must remember to include the main features in the app.

While an Uber-like app can get you a share of the business, you should also try to do a little extra so that you secure your business for the future.

Giving some more features that your passenger might need can help to make your service different from others. Let us see some features that can make your service better.

01. Outstation Service

Many people who travel on a business stay in the central city and travel to other destinations nearby. They usually hire taxis from regular taxi services which charge them a flat rate.

You can offer them one-way trips to the nearby places on a per kilometer rate. They can book this from their smartphones.

Another way to offer this is on an hourly basis round trip to the nearby city. It will help them to complete their business and return in the same vehicle.

The hourly basis will suit them as they pay only for the exact hours; they use your service. This feature will help people who have to make multiple stops during the trip.

As you are an on-demand service, the customers pay only from the minute they start the trip. Moreover, they will get a choice of vehicles to choose from.

They don't have to pick a car that the taxi operator offers them. They will get the option for either one-way or round-trip.

For you, this will help extend your service to the nearby city. As you come to know about the potential in that city you can even get drivers from the town to join your services.

While Uber-like services prefer to concentrate on the major cities, you can offer this unique service.

02. Day Package

It is another way to attract customers. You can offer them rides for a full day or half day. You can fix the number of hours and kilometers.

It will help them go wherever they want without having to decide the destination in advance. People who want to visit many places in the city will prefer this.

Most people on official visits may want to visit many places in the city. They may sometimes be forced to visit the same place twice for business purposes.

This kind of package will give them the freedom to go wherever they want within a fixed time and distance. It is like having a chauffeur-driven car.

These packages help you a lot. Once some of the companies have used this service, they will become regular users who will book the facility for their officials.

You can even make them in your favorite customer list and offer them rewards or booking preferences. You can also assign the same vehicle and driver if they book in advance.  

03. Monthly Basis Charges

You can contribute monthly memberships to people who use the service regularly. You can collect the money for a month and a specific number of kilometers.

The customers don't have to pay for each trip. You can offer them some reduction in fares as they pay for the month.

This kind of service will be beneficial for people who make weekly or regular visits to certain places. Some older adults may not want to drive their cars.

They may be making regular visits to hospitals or other locations. This facility will be beneficial to them.

04. Ride Sharing

It is a feature which will be very useful for office-goers. Some people travel from the same residential areas to their offices daily.

You can offer ride-sharing options to such people. Having this option will allow these people to share a ride and reach their office on time.

This feature is beneficial for your success too. Once they have started to use the service regularly, you will also know that this will be a regular income for you.

It can help to plan your expenses. It will also help you to plan your rides on specific routes where you know that people will wait for the shared rides.  

05. Special Services

You can equip some of your vehicles with wheelchairs and baby seats. People who need these services can use these cabs. You can add these options in your app.

You should ensure that such requests go only to the drivers who have these facilities in their cars. These facilities are beneficial for many people.

Offering such special services will endear you to your customers. It is a way to get more customers to use your services.

You should ensure that the mobile application and development company incorporates these features in the app. 

●  Special features will help you get more customers.

●  Outstation packages can attract people traveling on business to nearby cities

●  They will have the freedom to choose vehicles and the type of service they need – either one way or both ways.

●  Day packages help people who want to travel to many places. They can go anywhere within the stipulated time and kilometers.

●  Ride-sharing is an option that will be very helpful to office-goers.

●  You should include specialized services like wheelchair and baby-seats. 

Read Also : Complete Guide For Cost To Build a Taxi Fare Comparison App

Uber-Like Advanced Features

Uber has not become successful without doing anything special. There are certain features which make their drivers stay loyal to the cab-hailing app. You should try to incorporate these features into your app. They will help your drivers in a big way.

Driving Report – This report reaches the driver panel of the app every day. The app sends the story once the driver has completed all the trips for the day. It will tell the driver how his driving was. It will help him improve his driving.

Fastest Route Finder – This feature helps the driver know the quickest route to a destination. It is advantageous in cities during the rush hours. It will help the driver reach the goal faster while also saving fuel. It warns of any traffic block on the way.

Preferred Destinations – The app enables drivers to choose their favorite destination. It is helpful to pick up a passenger when the driver is ending his duty and going back home. He can make money on the way home too.

Shorter Cancellation Time – Uber has helped its drivers by shortening the cancellation time to two minutes. It means that a passenger can cancel his ride only up to 2 minutes from booking. After that period the rider has to pay cancellation fees.

Trip Incentive – Uber drivers earn extra money for completing a certain number of trips within a set period.

Tipping – Tipping was not allowed earlier, but Uber changed the rules recently to help its drivers earn some extra income.

Heat Maps – These maps show the places where there is more demand for taxis. Drivers can move their cars to these locations and get more passengers.

Forward Dispatch – With this feature, drivers can accept another booking when he is still on a ride. He can book a trip to be picked immediately after he has finished the current journey.

For knowing more about the features, you should have comprehensive knowledge of basic. That’s where the role of Complete Guide Of Mobile App Development comes into play.

Building The App

Before you approach the mobile application company, you should have a clear idea about how the app will be. There is no use in launching an app which is exactly similar to the Uber.

You need to study the market and find out any special requirements. Each city and region has its uniqueness. Use these to design your app accordingly. 

There are always some extra features that people are looking for. There are some needs you can fulfill. You should check with regular users & find out what is lacking with other services.

It will help you develop a unique product. There is enough advanced technology to help you build a unique app.

Though the best way is to build a sufficiently feature-rich app, shortage of resources could prevent you from doing so.

You can start with a basic app with the most necessary features. You can then move on to a Uber-like app.

As you go along, you can keep adding the elements and make it a different cab-hailing app.

Conclusion

You should be very careful as to which Mobile App Development Company in NYC USA you are going to hand over the job. You need someone who will create the app at a very reasonable price.

You also need a developing team that can create all the advanced features you need whenever you need them.

It is ideal for creating the app separately for both iOS and Android. If you have money constraints, then you can develop the app for one platform first.

You should find out which platform is more prevalent in your area. When you hire a team for your work, please make sure that they will be with you for maintaining the app too.

The cost of the app will depend on whether you are developing separately for both platforms or a cross-platform app.

It will also depend on where you build your app. Certain countries like India have developing companies which can do the job at a much lower cost.