Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: john m on November 09, 2017, 04:28:13 am
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The chief executive of MyTaxi has admitted the company could have handled the migration of customers over from the much-loved Hailo app better but said most of the problems had now been ironed out.
Speaking on the fringes of the Web Summit, Andrew Pinnington also said the group is looking at rolling out a number of new services in Ireland shortly. These include a new pooling service known as MyTaxi Match that allows passengers travelling in the same direction to share a cab home.
Hailo officially rebranded as MyTaxi in early March, following the all-share merger with Daimler’s subsidiary last August, in a deal that created Europe’s largest e-hailing company with some 10 million registered users across 70 cities in 11 countries.
The migration of Hailo to MyTaxi hasn’t been as seamless as the company hoped, with both customers and drivers expressing frustration over missed bookings, car shortages and so on.
A decision to introduce a €2 booking charge in September in order to attract more drivers to the service also angered customers, coming as it did before many of the problems experienced by users had not yet been resolved.
“We were realistic that moving from Hailo to MyTaxi would be difficult. We knew it was going to be a bumpy ride, especially given that it was a big technical challenge. I dare say that if we did it again, we’d do it better,” said Mr Pinnington.
Irish market
He added, though, that six months after the rebrand, MyTaxi expects to carry four million people in Ireland during the fourth quarter, which Mr Pinnington said was “significantly above anything Hailo ever did”.
Mr Pinnington said Ireland is MyTaxi’s second-biggest market, with the company seeing plenty of room for growth locally still, given over half of people in Ireland still phone for taxis rather than booking them through apps.
“[The MyTaxi app] is not as beautiful as Hailo was, but we’re doing something right given our growth pattern. I would be the first to hold up my hands and say there are things we could have done better but we have listened to feedback and as a result are introducing a number of technological developments based on information we’ve received from users in Ireland,” he said.
These developments include the launch of a Google Maps software development kit to provide better accuracy and provide better time estimates for users.
Driver shortage
Mr Pinnington also said the company had been trialling its new MyTaxi Match service in Warsaw, Poland, and hoped to introduce this in Ireland shortly.
He said this would help ease supply issues at peak times that have arisen largely because of driver shortages.
MyTaxi has introduced a number of initiatives recently to boost driver numbers in Ireland. These include offering a total of €1 million in incentives to drivers to join its fleet, and the rolling-out of a learning platform to help entrants prepare for the small public service vehicles (SPSV) test.
One less popular move was the €2 booking charge, which Mr Pinnington said had been introduced as it was found to be the main reason why drivers weren’t staying with MyTaxi.
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Mr Pinnington also said the company had been trialling its new MyTaxi Match service in Warsaw, Poland, and hoped to introduce this in Ireland shortly.
He said this would help ease supply issues at peak times that have arisen largely because of driver shortages.
MyTaxi has introduced a number of initiatives recently to boost driver numbers in Ireland. These include offering a total of €1 million in incentives to drivers to join its fleet, and the rolling-out of a learning platform to help entrants prepare for the small public service vehicles (SPSV) test.
One less popular move was the €2 booking charge, which Mr Pinnington said had been introduced as it was found to be the main reason why drivers weren’t staying with MyTaxi.
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Mytaxi match?
Rideshare on taxis. Customers split fares
Lol
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Mytaxi match?
Rideshare on taxis. Customers split fares
Lol
That would be ridesharing .Every time Mytaxi Hailo get drivers on board they shit on them .I wonder if there is 50K a year available for somebody to do their PR ?
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Mr Pinnington also said the company had been trialling its new MyTaxi Match service in Warsaw, Poland, and hoped to introduce this in Ireland shortly.....So now they want to carry more passengers for less . lol lol lol lol
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If it "could have handled the migration of customers over from the much-loved Hailo app better", why didn't it? There ought to be a vacancy for a CEO that knows his arse from his elbow... but hey ho, who are we to tell Daimler how to squander it's R&D budget.
I wonder if mytaxi match will require drivers to wait up to 5 mins for each drunken arsehole during peak periods? Of course, if taxi drivers are reluctant to spend peak hours covering this kind of work it will strengthen the case for increasing the fleet of private (hire) cars.
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They need a good PR guru if they had 50K it would be better spent in my pocket than on driver Bonusus .I was getting my meter done yesterday and had a mug of Tea with a Nigerian Driver he told me hundreds of African drivers have left and the reason why ?
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Funny really, cab:app went to great lengths to ensure that it's app is only available to
white professional drivers. They won't get a good PR Guru for 50k.
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Rodent I get the impression that somebody somewhere will be juggling smoke .The logic behind the theory is there are x amount of passengers needing a lift at certain times but there are x-y amount of taxies available so how do x get home .The proposition is to protect the existing drivers incomes we should carry a passenger plus x to provide a service without expanding the present fleet .
So in lay mans terms if the public cant get a taxi when they want one then we need to double up on passengers or the public and politicians and Dispatchers will lobby the Minister to remove the moritorium on plates .So basically if we know whats good for us we will do what we are told .
It seems like some commercial app providers think they have some sort of entitlement to carry passengers @12% commission .
I think to maintain a bespoke taxi service we should be encouraging private busses to take up the slack .The solution is more Nightlink busses and extra busses in the morning ....not more taxies .
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Seems odd that they're trying to bring down the costs of taxis to passengers while at the same time encouraging drivers to buy newer more expensive vehicles to enlist as an Ambassadors.The fares will keep increasing if we're all driving Mercs and Superbs and 5 series.
Who's responsible if some pervert grabs a tit or a leg during a shared journey with strangers?I don't think this would be smart idea in a Dacia Logan at 3am on Sunday morning.
Maybe they just needed to sound innovative at the web summit so copied Uber's plans instead.. Absolute wankers I tells yis.
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Taxi industry is made up of all sorts ,who in their right mind would want to carry 3 lads to the flats at 3.37AM on Wednesday while they score some brown .He isint going to be told what to do by any app provider .There are loads of WATs available for new entrants if there ios demand for more taxies .I was informed that somebody has imported a 100 used WATs from the mainland .Im sure these will be a welcome addition especially for their owners lucrative rental business .
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There is too much reliance on taxis, no doubt about that erm. Youngsters these days seem to have lost the use of their legs. Govt should be encouraging walking, cycling and the provision of buses/trains. Going forward it seems likely that taxis will be part of an evolving motor trade. One only has to look at the number of cars parked in housing estates, industrial estates and city car parks to conclude that these machines aren't being efficiently utilised.
I don't believe mytaxi necessarily wants to decrease the cost of taxis, MfH. Adding the €2 pick up charge doesn't seem to have impacted on demand at all. Drivers charging more gives the firm more commission to squander. mytaxi's aim is clearly to enhance efficiency in utilisation of the current fleet. This is complicated by the fact that demand outweighs supply, particularly at peak times. Ironically, driver incentives actually serve to decrease efficiency in utilisation as drivers chasing bonuses pass by street/rank work. If one takes the view that the authorities will have to take action to increase supply on foot of said disruption it could be seen as taking one step backwards in anticipation of taking 2.27 steps forwards.
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Next year Dublin Bus will lose some of their routes .Im sure private bus companies will look at my taxi figures for peak time demand and possibly put extra busses on a peak time or possibly dependent on demand run a 24 hour bus service to meet the demand identified by Mytaxi research .More busses would reduce the demand for taxies to a ratio where available taxies can cope with the remaining demand .Strange how more busses could solve the oversupply problem and protect existing taxi drivers from taxi saturation .More busses would also reduce traffic congestion and emissions .We must carry out an indept analysis of peak time passenger transport demand and prepare a submission for the Transport Minister to show that issuing more taxi licences would have a detrimental impact on congestion and environment .Im sure the Mungbean munching bike peddling air breathing parents of young children dont want to see the city flooded with empty taxies outside of peak times spewing diesel particles outside young Ficra and Blossoms expensive Crech .As environmentally aware service providers who have modernized our vehicles to improve environmental impact it is incumbent on us to advise the Minister of the dangers of a kneejerk reaction to frustration by a commercial entity to get taxi drivers to be compliant to their brand .
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Who's responsible if some pervert grabs a tit or a leg during a shared journey with strangers?I don't think this would be smart idea in a Dacia Logan at 3am on Sunday morning.
Yeah that our job , its one of the few perks we have left.
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Whilst I have no problem With MyTaxi and use it regularly. There is a distinction between "not enough Taxis to cover demand" and not enough Taxis on the MyTaxi system to cover the app's demand. Two totally different things. Methinks that needs to be stated regularly and loudly lest MyTaxi gets to thinking that they are the taxi industry. >:D
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The problem is the apps and radio peoples are short peak times why?
Because we like full fare work when its busy
Looking at mtaxi poland it seem s to be working punters love it
Maybe we could make a few quid from it and do what we always do
Switch it off when its busy lol
?
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All the MyTaxi bonuses are targeted at the night shift so presumeably that's where *their* driver shortages are. Why not lobby to stagger the closing times of pubs and clubs instead? Otherwise you'll have 1000's of drivers with nothing to do outside of those few hours?
Also, I wonder why they picked Poland as the trial run for the version of their software?
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They need a good PR guru if they had 50K it would be better spent in my pocket than on driver Bonusus .I was getting my meter done yesterday and had a mug of Tea with a Nigerian Driver he told me hundreds of African drivers have left and the reason why ?
Ok, I'll bite. Why did hundreds of African drivers leave?
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The bonuses help spread the "problem" to the streets. We really need to consider how much of a problem it is, punters queuing for an hour or two at peak times isn't such a big deal. Staggering pub closing times could be counter productive. Our culture dictates that punters would move from pub to pub until all 2.3 million end up queuing to get into the only one still open. Naturally, some would be too full to stagger so they'd be looking for taxis along the way...
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Ok, I'll bite. Why did hundreds of African drivers leave?
The €50,000 question!
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Ok, I'll bite. Why did hundreds of African drivers leave?
The €50,000 question!
Your far to clever for this game Rodent .
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Hi John,
Following recent Web Summit press coverage we’ve had a few enquiries from drivers asking about the licensed taxi pooling feature currently in testing in Warsaw, Poland.
We’d like to reassure drivers that this pooling feature is not “ridesharing”. It is fully licensed taxi drivers in Warsaw picking up multiple passengers travelling in a similar direction and sharing the fare through the mytaxi app.
Testing is in the early stages in Poland and feedback from both passengers and drivers there has been extremely positive.
There are no immediate plans to launch this service in Ireland - before making a decision whether this service will be suitable for the Irish market, we will of course consult with drivers to get your opinion in advance.
I gave my opinion when I spoke to Tim this morning .I dont believe ride pooling is suitable for Dublin .He did make some interesting observations regarding availability at peak times and customers waiting .He applied a sensible business logic and wondered why CARS dont work when there is plenty of work available .If you were to take a truly business view you would have a Cosy on your vehicle when you are not driving it you have already paid for the vehicle and as a business it makes no sense parking up and loosing revenue .If we were to run our taxi as a business we would drive the wheels off of it until we exhausted all the capital allowances then get a new one .
As most of you know I truly believe we will get rideshare in the future and the fact that passengers have to wait for a taxi will be used as a pretext for its introduction so there in lies the conundrum .Does the taxi industry respond to the demand or do we contribute to the problem opening up the doors to a free for all rideshare .
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I wouldn't rent out my car to another driver because I don't trust someone else enough to take care of it the way I do.I'd rather park it up and sleep well at night.It owes me nothing.If there's two or three Muppets driving it to near death every shift it will break more often.We're not taking about Toyota Carinas here.New cars equal more problems.
John yer the only one who thought it was anything to do with rideshare BTW.Uber were trialing this in Dublin years ago with taxis.It's just more headline grabbing to keep them in the papers.Very Ryanair altogether.
By the way every city has taxi shortages at closing time.It's normal.When I'm abroad I'm the last out of the bar and it's expected that the taxis will be scarce.10000 people pressing an app is not the same as 10000 folks getting stranded.
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if you share the ride its ridesharing not the UBER definition of ridesharing which is simply a citizen sharing their car with another citizen for reward .IF and its a BIG IF this was allowed then most drivers would get a van and we would have a minibus service to replace the taxi service .
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Not the same thing....if you could afford a van you'd be out in the Airport with Marto robbing the tourists...probably.
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Rideshare biggest problem will be insurance here
I believe it will happen sooner or later
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Insurance is a huge issue but safety is a bigger issue Martha gets into a taxi and nodger and darren jump in beside her she feels unsafe decides to abandon the app for a street hail or a rank job .Cant see it working in Dublin but down the country where people know each other who knows .
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Of it work s in poland woth vodka as a stable diet there it will work here
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I work for me.
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Bumpy...
I see Today FM and Spin are putting taxi sharing on the news today despite the email sent to drivers saying the opposite.
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I wouldn't rent out my car to another driver because I don't trust someone else enough to take care of it the way I do.I'd rather park it up and sleep well at night.It owes me nothing.
What if the cosy supplied the car and you supplied the plate... or, perhaps more realistically, you and the cosy buy the car between you. You get a half price car and he gets time to save for his new new new new new new new new standard WAV - I've assumed two more "news" will apply before the agreement matures.
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Seems a little too risky.Although I'm not against the idea for others I doubt there is anyone I'd be able to go into partnership that I trust enough except me little bro.The Wheelies are cheapish already and with the grant they aren't expensive anymore.There aren't enough advantages for a driver like me to share.
The ten year rule has us by the nuts...crash yer 2010 Prius/Octy and unless yer sitting on cash yer forking out 10k for a similar motor to continue working.I can account for my own shite driving but my cosy might be even worse and put me out of the game for a few months.
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All the MyTaxi bonuses are targeted at the night shift so presumeably that's where *their* driver shortages are. Why not lobby to stagger the closing times of pubs and clubs instead? Otherwise you'll have 1000's of drivers with nothing to do outside of those few hours?
Also, I wonder why they picked Poland as the trial run for the version of their software?
And therein lies the problem. You hit the nail on the head. The powerful drinks lobby is the tail wagging the Government dog.
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Reasonable points, MfH. I guess new entrants might see more benefit in teaming up with each other to buy miniwavs. From their perspective that would make more sense than renting from the Ebbseseses. I guess mytaxi could look at promoting some form of shared ownership for the drivers it recruits and trains. Who knows, it might even suit it to build it's own fleet rather than watch it's trainees join Lynk.