Everyones Private Driver!
Taxi apps have become the hottest thing in technology and Apps like Uber, Flywheel and Lyft are predicted to be the next megabrands. Uber is the most well-known taxi app. I live right out side of Washington D.C. and I had just heard about Uber at the very end of this past summer. Even though I have never used the app, it is downloaded on my Iphone and I have looked at the features of the application. Personally, I think this idea is GENIUS. The ability to order a taxi though the application makes the process easier for both parties. The cab driver has access to the GPS device of the phone that placed the order and gets turn-by-turn navigation to your location. You also can put your credit card information into the application making payment as simple as the touch of a button. You can also track your taxi to see how far it is from picking you up at your destination. Taxi apps such as Uber and others are best suited for metropolitan areas. There is not really a market for services like this in smaller suburbs. The only other major disadvantage is that these services loose the business of people hailing down cabs on the side of the road. This service brings many opportunities beyond transit, including selling things in the cab, location-based advertising, and coordinating other person-to-person transactions in real-time. Services have been growing and just this week a Danish company called Click A Taxi announced that it is launching globally all at once, claiming to cover a billion people. This means when you are vacationing, you can pull out the app and click to order a taxi, no matter where you are. I think taxi apps could be overwhelmingly successful in smaller college towns, such as Oxford. It would eliminate problems in the communication or ordering process, location confusion, payment. Overall, I found this article very interesting and was surprised to see Uber, an app I have downloaded but never used, as the focus. I cannot wait to use Uber when I am home this summer and I will be continuing to track the success of these taxi apps!!
Article: http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/7/3964394/taxi-race-can-uber-and-hailo-deliver-a-real-time-revolution
Julia DiBenedetto 
