The Perfect Taxi App

[watty]

I don't use any of the apps but from what I can see, they're all chasing market share by relying on price.  Uber being the prime example by losing c. $900million every 3 months.  The punters love getting something for nothing (or half nothing).  The problems start when you try and raise prices.  The customers will desert you to the next 'new app' will their lower prices.

Re autonomous taxis, I wonder.  Why haven't planes and trains gone fully autonomous already?  I know they're largely automatic already but they still have a meatsack sitting at the front of the vehicle.  Planes & trains travel along pretty well-defined paths with little or no interference.  There are trials with autonomous buses/taxis in various countries but they only travel along pre-defined, short circuits.  Taxi drivers do a bit more than drive someone from A to B; we have to avoid all the cyclists, pedestrians, other cars etc to get the passenger there alive.

Also, a bit off-topic but why is there no autonomous spaceships/cars/vehicles etc in sci-fi movies like Star Trek etc?

[Rat Catcher]

Indeed. Punters frequently tell me they used to love Hail0 (why wouldn't they, Hail0 showered them with $100,000,000) but they hate mytaxi. However, love it or hate it, they still use it! For the most part, Hail0 and Uber passengers are paying full fare in Dublin.

[U Wha]

You can't halt progress. Technology has revolutionised many a trade and it will significantly impact ours in due course. If the objective is to obstruct the multinationals it's a futile exercise. If the objective is to partner with them it's hard to justify as long as mytaxi continues to work with drivers.

Dug meself a hole here alright. Probably went too far with the vision. The point I was trying to make is if a driver owned app ever got legs and was successful in gaining market share then the driver app would have what the tech firms and  car makers want. Data and access to a market where  they can launch their innovations.  At that point the driver app could  negotiate a better deal for drivers. Anyway maybe thinking that far ahead would only be confusing. Keep it simple. I wont be there anyway, those policies will be decided by whatever board is elected. I don't want to run it. I just want to be involved in getting it going.

[U Wha]

I don't use any of the apps but from what I can see, they're all chasing market share by relying on price.  Uber being the prime example by losing c. $900million every 3 months.  The punters love getting something for nothing (or half nothing).  The problems start when you try and raise prices.  The customers will desert you to the next 'new app' will their lower prices.

Re autonomous taxis, I wonder.  Why haven't planes and trains gone fully autonomous already?  I know they're largely automatic already but they still have a meatsack sitting at the front of the vehicle.  Planes & trains travel along pretty well-defined paths with little or no interference.  There are trials with autonomous buses/taxis in various countries but they only travel along pre-defined, short circuits.  Taxi drivers do a bit more than drive someone from A to B; we have to avoid all the cyclists, pedestrians, other cars etc to get the passenger there alive.

Also, a bit off-topic but why is there no autonomous spaceships/cars/vehicles etc in sci-fi movies like Star Trek etc?

On your first point, I absolutely agree, buying off punters has no long term gain, they will move like sheep. But!.. if the drivers are supporting their own app and neglecting the others, punters will migrate, follow to where they can get a taxi and the best possible customer experience (in a taxi), then who needs to be bought off, drivers are getting the work by supporting their own company, passengers have little choice, as that is where the drivers are available. Difference is drivers decide on their own destiny and not cow towing to commercial apps who will run them off as soon as the tech allows.

On your second point , it is fair comment, you may well be right. It may never happen, but then again it could. With the ever increasing rate of technological advances, the right business environment and supportive government policies, it could happen, in urban centres at least. The Taoiseach wants that for Ireland (as detailed in an earlier post). Forgetting all that, It may be too much forward thinking. Bringing it up at this stage may be unnecessary, premature and distract from the basic idea of promoting a driver owned app. 

I Knew the contributors here would be helpful. Lesson learnt, keep it to the point.

off topic bit....     

Ah! but in star trek the computer controls the ship, shuttle etc but needs voice commands. Watty you may have discovered the missing link to the tech, automation with human voice commands in the moment, not pre programmed non interactive algorithms. In the taxi case, the passenger gives the commands and taxi heads off with its programming based on the command, not that I ever watched star trek, just read it somewhere.   

[U Wha]

Indeed. Punters frequently tell me they used to love Hail0 (why wouldn't they, Hail0 showered them with $100,000,000) but they hate mytaxi. However, love it or hate it, they still use it! For the most part, Hail0 and Uber passengers are paying full fare in Dublin.

You are right, buying people off, drivers or punters, is like the roman emperors giving bread to the mob in the arena, keeps them happy today.

Punters use it because it is a good idea, it generally works, if they are unhappy with any part of it, there is no where to go, no choice!

The traditional taxi company versions of a taxi app are not the same , they are hybrids, they don't really compete, just create the illusion that they do. it doesn't gain any loyalty.

Full fare is good, a driver owned app doesn't need to compromise on fares.

It needs to be the one stop shop, the only show in town, mind you it would help to give the punter a better experience especially as the drivers own it.

Drivers support their own app and neglect the other/s, then the others will wither away, especially if they are loss making as things stand today.

We as drivers have the chance to fuck them up and own our own industry, if only we could all see past what we  need to earn today. Rest assured, if drivers maintain the mercenary mentality, which the game subliminally ingrains into all of us  from the day we started in the trade, we will be dribbling and mumbling in the nursing home about the auld days when people drove taxis.

Re; the freebies and bonuses.. Absolutely take the free money.

Question is though why are MyTaxi throwing money away hand over fist, what is the end game?

Daimler aren't there for a wee profit from a taxi app, if it ever makes one!

Compared to their motor revenues, it isn't even chicken feed.

There is a higher purpose. what is it?

[Rat Catcher]

The stated objective was to harvest data for Daimler. However, it's as clear as night follows day that it doesn't have the technical expertise to do anything useful with data and things have moved on insofar as Google seems to be taking the lead in the autonomous vehicle race. Google is, of course, doing what Google does i.e. inviting all the manufacturers into one pool that it can manipulate and dominate. Given that most of them already rely on Google APIs they're already harvesting data for Google regardless of any formal agreements so it would appear that resistance is futile.

Given that mytaxi's CEO has a background in the mobile phone industry he'll be aware of how Google moved that trade through various stages of manipulation starting with taking control of the Open Handset Alliance and progressing to launch the Nexus brand of hardware. Contracts for manufacturing Nexus devices were given to it's OHSA "partners" pretty much on a pat on the back basis. Maybe Daimler's thinking is that it might get to manufacture a Google car if it dominates a market (e.g. Europe) sufficiently to harvest volumes of data which Google deems to be significant.

Of course, the autonomous vehicle bit could all be a bottle of smoke, Google's real objective might just be to dominate the motor trade in it's current backward driver dependent form?

[U Wha]

The stated objective was to harvest data for Daimler. However, it's as clear as night follows day that it doesn't have the technical expertise to do anything useful with data and things have moved on insofar as Google seems to be taking the lead in the autonomous vehicle race. Google is, of course, doing what Google does i.e. inviting all the manufacturers into one pool that it can manipulate and dominate. Given that most of them already rely on Google APIs they're already harvesting data for Google regardless of any formal agreements so it would appear that resistance is futile.

Given that mytaxi's CEO has a background in the mobile phone industry he'll be aware of how Google moved that trade through various stages of manipulation starting with taking control of the Open Handset Alliance and progressing to launch the Nexus brand of hardware. Contracts for manufacturing Nexus devices were given to it's OHSA "partners" pretty much on a pat on the back basis. Maybe Daimler's thinking is that it might get to manufacture a Google car if it dominates a market (e.g. Europe) sufficiently to harvest volumes of data which Google deems to be significant.

Of course, the autonomous vehicle bit could all be a bottle of smoke, Google's real objective might just be to dominate the motor trade in it's current backward driver dependent form?

Fair play, you have done your research. Educated me anyway. It is definitely something that is going to change our lives one way or another.

Like I said, maybe I was thinking too far ahead, the important point is a driver owned app could take back control and be a market leader in the industry today and at least have a chance of holding its own in the future.

If we accept the status quo and do nothing, then we are subject to what ever happens without a say and shouldn't complain when it comes. 

[The Liffey Lip]

U Wha....it's an illusion that people think they can change anything except themselves. The greatest trick we can perform on man is to let him believe has free-will......Josef Goebbels; Minister for Propaganda: Deutschland.

[john m]

U wha by the time you develop your app it will be obsolete .Uber will be obsolete and my taxi will be obsolete {Block Chain} is the future operated by Pay Pal or Stripe or whoever. The drivers will chase the customers not the other way round we will pay for access to work by having all the dispatch apps on a device  Facial ID on board to confirm who we pick up so we cannot cheat then cashless payments with a commission going to the dispatcher for their service and a comission going to the Block Chain provider for taking payments .Why do you think My taxi are gobbling up pubs and clubs in Dublin the name of the game is work capture it will take time but if or when driverless cars come along then the motor suppliers will go into partnership with the app or customer bases .My taxi are aligned with Daimler .Volvo with UBER Toyota with LYFT  at the moment .As soon if ever there are driverless cars then the vehicles will partner up with all the apps making sure the job goes to the nearest car to save on fuel and time with possible a fraction of your unaligned branded car /dispatch fare going to your app competitor .

 Just stand back and look at the average Irish taxi driver He possibly pays Base then competes with his own base by running Mytaxi and UBER has a few regulars and sits on ranks and drives a loop looking for street hails .Block Chain tech will gather all of this togeather and the secret to it is CASHLESS .The main reason people like to use Mytaxi is card payments I also have Sum Up .Now in visage a system {Block Chain } there is a Camera on board that recognizes your face inputs your data into the taximeter and the meter starts to run and stops when you get out .This is the future for all types of public transport jump on jump off Bus /Luas .Dart /Boat /Plane the Block Chain system will then apply the fare and distribute it to the different service providers .

 This is the future 5 or 10 years down the road your idea to develop a taxi app is 5 or ten years to late .I gave you two ideas for an app one was to provide food the other was to provide prostitutes both suggestions were serious Man or Woman will always need to eat and fuck .You can have food delivered to your gaff you can have a whore delivered to your gaff by app you can download a film to your gaff by app you can sit in a chair watch a football match or racing and have a bet on it by app .Soon people wont bother getting out of the womb the gynecologist will simply insert a device with all the apps you need to live comfortably .When I was a kid there were 12 bookies in Inchicore now there are 3 the small lads were swamped by Paddy Power and Boylesports they didnt grow by aquiring the others the others were to small to compete any taxi app you develop will meet the same fate .

[The Liffey Lip]

When the "intelligentsia" running the old taxi "business"(viable) refused to listen to the cunts doing the cosying, who said at least another thousand plates, maybe 2, or we will be run out of Dodge, it then became a "game". Every participant since then has been on death row...some fuckers don't have the smarts to know they paid for the noose long before Pierpoint came into the equation. MyTaxi and all its little altar boys and knaves remind me of a cow licking its own arse before the stunning.

[john m]

As I posted .The car firms sell a car for 27 grand the government get about 10 in tax and VRT the seller gets about 3 parts and labour another 7 or 8 so the profit to the maker is is about 7 grand .the car has a lifetime of 7 years so the benifit to the manufacturer is in real terms one thousand per year per vehicle if the car lasts ten years before renual then they probably still get another grand a year in replacement parts so over the lifetime of every vehicle sold they get a grand a year .

    NOW FORWARD

 Rideshare IF lets say Renault ?Mytaxi /Toyota ?Uber /Volvo /Damlier ?ADD WHOEVER were to say to me .Good morning mister Mc would you like to come in ant drink tea and eat biscuits in our nice modern office .Then they said Hello John we have an offer for you We would like to help you to help us to help the public .What we are offering is a new modern car ADD BRAND to be used in concert with our ridehailing partner ADD BRAND and the cost to you is only 180 euro per week  and for an extra 20 euro per week you can buy a maintainance contract LIMITED LIABILITY .Now John how this works is for 200 a week we supply the modern vehicle with maintainance you then supply your SPSV licence we put the car in your name and you sign a leae rental agreement with us to help you offset the costs of the vehocle you can employ a cosy to work the vehicle when you are not on shift .Now there is also another dimension to this fabulous deal both you and your cozy will have access to our app ADD brand .Now on the face of it this is a win /win/win/win /win/

The car supplier gets 10 grand per year from the leasee over say 6 years is 60 grand .The car company borrows the purchase price from itself then offsets the capital allowances and the profits against the capital invested reducing their tax liabilities which contribute to profits .

The driver offsets some of the costs of the agreement by using a cozy probably trained by Mytaxi or some other dispatch app .

The dispatch app has an agreement with their parent company to supply taxi work to the car leasee so the parent company gets some extra money from every job covered .

The public win as there will only be the same amount of taxies so no increase in congestion but they will operate more prudently with the nearest car getting the job cutting down on congestion/emissions /and waiting times .

The government win as they did say they wanted every driver aligned to a dispatcher in the review and they will then have a better idea of demand and earnings .

 The dispatchers win as they promote their brands collect all relevent journey time and costs at different times of day for when driverless cars come along .

The day of the independent taxi driver is fast coming to an end .The iconic yellow cab in NY or London Black Cab might survive just like the Guinness Horses they will become a tourist attraction .Im 57 I retire in 11 years and I dont think I will retire as an Independent taxi driver .Anybody want to do days ill do nights 

[The Liffey Lip]

As I posted .The car firms sell a car for 27 grand the government get about 10 in tax and VRT the seller gets about 3 parts and labour another 7 or 8 so the profit to the maker is is about 7 grand .the car has a lifetime of 7 years so the benifit to the manufacturer is in real terms one thousand per year per vehicle if the car lasts ten years before renual then they probably still get another grand a year in replacement parts so over the lifetime of every vehicle sold they get a grand a year .

    NOW FORWARD

 Rideshare IF lets say Renault ?Mytaxi /Toyota ?Uber /Volvo /Damlier ?ADD WHOEVER were to say to me .Good morning mister Mc would you like to come in ant drink tea and eat biscuits in our nice modern office .Then they said Hello John we have an offer for you We would like to help you to help us to help the public .What we are offering is a new modern car ADD BRAND to be used in concert with our ridehailing partner ADD BRAND and the cost to you is only 180 euro per week  and for an extra 20 euro per week you can buy a maintainance contract LIMITED LIABILITY .Now John how this works is for 200 a week we supply the modern vehicle with maintainance you then supply your SPSV licence we put the car in your name and you sign a leae rental agreement with us to help you offset the costs of the vehocle you can employ a cosy to work the vehicle when you are not on shift .Now there is also another dimension to this fabulous deal both you and your cozy will have access to our app ADD brand .Now on the face of it this is a win /win/win/win /win/

The car supplier gets 10 grand per year from the leasee over say 6 years is 60 grand .The car company borrows the purchase price from itself then offsets the capital allowances and the profits against the capital invested reducing their tax liabilities which contribute to profits .

The driver offsets some of the costs of the agreement by using a cozy probably trained by Mytaxi or some other dispatch app .

The dispatch app has an agreement with their parent company to supply taxi work to the car leasee so the parent company gets some extra money from every job covered .

The public win as there will only be the same amount of taxies so no increase in congestion but they will operate more prudently with the nearest car getting the job cutting down on congestion/emissions /and waiting times .

The government win as they did say they wanted every driver aligned to a dispatcher in the review and they will then have a better idea of demand and earnings .

 The dispatchers win as they promote their brands collect all relevent journey time and costs at different times of day for when driverless cars come along .

The day of the independent taxi driver is fast coming to an end .The iconic yellow cab in NY or London Black Cab might survive just like the Guinness Horses they will become a tourist attraction .Im 57 I retire in 11 years and I dont think I will retire as an Independent taxi driver .Anybody want to do days ill do nights 

Taking back the Alan Turing compliment mate....by the time you are 60 the retirement age will be 70. Any man or tranny under 50 now will never be able to retire s his/its fund has been spent already on our "forever" down-payment" to the ECB.

[mercenary for hire]

It's gonna be great lads.We'll be out of jobs like the miners drinking all day.Mostly tea though.

[john m]

All that we are going to see is a corporate take over of the taxi industry worldwide we seem to look at it as just an Irish thing . We still have jobs helping to build the brand and the data bases for the app/motor companies until they refine driverless time frame probably 5 to ten years .Which is more notice than the girls in the civil service typing pool got e mail put them out of business the girl in the wages department was wiped out when they linked up the timeclock with an apple mac that done the wages Show bands were replaced with DJs I even read that some builder intends to deal with the shortage of houses by building a complex for young professionals where they will have their own rooms but have a shared communal living space when I were a lad that sort of complex was called a Jail I hoped that my taxi would provide a bit of extra income when I retired it would act like a pension now I know it wont unless I specialize by offering tours or WAT where you look after the passenger

[Belker]

Jaysus ! Good to see the Prophets of Doom are alive and well on here !