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 .