With the release of our new site, RideGuru, the TaxiFareFinder/RideGuru team has become passionate about bringing transparency to the ridesharing community. Rideshares, such as Uber and Lyft, have their benefits but they also can be hampered by a lack of transparency.
Take a look at the video below to see how RideGuru is helping to bring insight into the ridesharing industry and let us know your thoughts below!
Ever wonder which service is best for you? Check out this helpful infographic that might lead you in the right direction! Start at the top and answer the questions to figure it out. Comment what you find!
As the world becomes a smaller and smaller place, our team at TaxiFareFinder strives to continually grow our site to include every corner of the world to make traveling as easy as possible for as many people as we can! Last week we added over 300 new locations and services to our site to bring our users the most comprehensive taxi and rideshare fare estimator on the web. Not only did we add new cities around the globe, but we also expanded on our rideshare services, adding more UberXL, Lyft Plus, and Uber Black estimates.
Some of the new cities we added include Troy, MI, Fall River, MA, Hoboken, NJ, Centennial, CO, Bethel Park, PA, Pawtucket, RI, Park City, UT, Concord, NC, Kaneohe, HI, Germantown, TN, Beaverton, OR, Bowling Green, OH, Everett, WA, Lafayette, IN, as well as a slew of cities in California, Florida, and Texas.
Is your city or favorite rideshare service not yet supported by TaxiFareFinder? Let us know in the below comments and we will add it to our site as soon as possible!
The taxi payment app Way2ride was introduced last year, and it allowed people to pay for their yellow cab taxi rides in NYC through its payment feature.
But this September, Way2ride introduced a feature that could become a huge success for the taxi industry as a whole.
The app was created by Verifone Systems was started as solely a payment app where users could pay for their taxis. Now, Way2ride includes the infamous hailing feature allowing users to submit requests for taxi drivers, similar to the controversial ride-hailing app, Uber.
Currently this app only exists in New York City and Philadelphia but has already grown to include almost 20,000 yellow and green taxi drivers.
The introduction of new apps like this one present an interesting question about whether they will succeed in the long-run or not. With so much competition coming in from Uber and other ride-hailing apps, who’s to say if this one will catch on in the market.
Way2ride believes that the creation of this app may help taxis with their ongoing battle with services like Uber and Lyft because nowadays consumers want everything to be digital. If people have access to an app and can order a taxi through their phone it will be a step forward for the taxi industry as a whole.
When the app was created in 2014, it received many awards. It was selected by The 2014 American Business Awards (ABA) as a Stevie® Award finalist in the New Product or Service of the Year – Transportation category, 2014 CNP (CardNotPresent) Customer Choice Award in the Best Alternative Payment Solution category, and the 2014 Appy Award for Best Mobile Payments.
We’re keeping our eye out for up-and-coming apps like Way2ride that may soon change the way we think about ordering and paying for a taxi!
Felicia is an intern at Unleashed, LLC. She is from upstate NY, and is currently pursuing a Marketing degree at Bentley University. One day she hopes to travel the world and visit every continent.
As it is officially September first and the back to school season is upon us we thought it would be a good time to re-visit some of our favorite articles involving tips for taking taxis with young children. Whether you are traveling with your toddler, need a transportation service that can help you shuttle your kids to and from after school activities, or are simply uncertain on the laws regarding minors in taxis, we are here to help! See below for our top three articles on parenting and how best to use taxis to your benefit.
In today’s fast-paced world of two-income households, parents often face the difficulty of school transportation. As funding for schools is cut back, less and less children are offered the luxury of riding on the school bus to their building for education. This leaves parents with the responsibility of making sure that their child arrives at school on time. Luckily, there are safe and child friendly taxi services for parents who do not have the time or the means to get their children to school in the morning. Read this article to learn our top simple tips for choosing the best possible taxi cab service to get your child to and from school.
http://www.taxifarefinder.com/newsroom/2015/04/07/5-tips-for-choosing-the-best-cab-company-for-school-transportation/
One of the questions that we most frequently hear at TaxiFareFinder is whether or not car seats are required in taxi cabs and if so who is responsible for bringing the car seat, the parent or cab driver? Surprisingly the rules regarding children and car seats in taxis changes from region to region so we have compiled an easy guide full of information, tips, and tricks when it comes to taking taxis with young children.
http://www.taxifarefinder.com/newsroom/2012/03/20/taking-taxis-with-infants-toddlers-and-young-children/
Should minors be allowed to ride in a taxi or Uber without a parent or guardian present? This is another question we receive a lot and again the answer is more complicated than it may seem. Take a look at this article to learn the laws regarding unsupervised minors in taxi cabs or rideshare cars.
http://www.taxifarefinder.com/newsroom/2015/08/11/are-minors-allowed-in-a-taxi-or-uber-without-a-guardian/One of the first impressions of a new city is the taxi ride taken from the airport to the destination, generally to a hotel or event in a city. This initial taxi ride can set the tone for a trip – the ride can be a quick breeze or a long, expensive nightmare. The TaxiFareFinder team has compiled information from taxis around the world to help travelers be prepared with the knowledge of what to expect when traveling to twenty of the largest airports. “Catch a Ride” infographic illustrates the distances, in miles, from an airport to the estimated center of the closest major city. The cost of a taxi ride from these two points was calculated and converted into US dollars.
Overall, the findings show the distance and price directly correlating; longer distances have higher taxi ride prices. However, there were a few airports that show surprising data. The distance from the airport to city center in Kuala Lumpur was the longest of the twenty airports, but had one of the lower fares. Conversely, the taxi cost in London was the highest, yet the distance is fairly average. This reinforces different taxi reputations: London is known to be very expensive, while Kuala Lumpur is known to have a surplus of taxis, thus lowering the cost.
Travelers should use this data when planning how to travel to their destination. If the cost is very high to travel directly into the city, an alternative transportation method, such as the train or bus may be the best option. If the distance is very long and the cost is reasonable, paying the price may be worth it as the trip could be very time consuming using other means of public transportation. Wherever you go and however you get there, TaxiFareFinder is here to educate and prepare you. Happy traveling!
An experience in a taxi is often one of the first defining moments when you reach a new city, whether for business or fun. This experience can set the tone for the entire trip, leaving the passenger excited to explore or with a sour taste and low expectations of the city. We decided to dig deeper into the reputations that different cities around the world have for their taxi services. Based on research conducted from various travel websites, traveler forums, and the TaxiFareFinder community, we have compiled a list of the top five cities with the best and worst reputations. This information was collected, organized, and ranked by TaxiFareFinder staff based on the following criteria points:
The Hall of Fame highlights cities with the best reputations around their taxi services, showing the top 2-3 attributes that allow the city a high ranking. The Hall of Shame highlights cities with low reputations, but with attributes shown in red to signify low ranking in these categories. Do you agree with the TaxiFareFinder Taxi Hall of Fame & Shame?
New to rideshares? Not sure how to sign up and call one? TaxiFareFinder created this helpful video to show you how to download the app, sign up, and start using rideshares like Uber and Lyft. Happy Traveling!
For more information on rideshares, make sure to check out our helpful Rideshare Guides. (http://www.taxifarefinder.com/rideguru)
Whether your cab driver drove through Manhattan like a speed demon or tried to humor you with knock knock jokes, we have all had at least one interesting taxi story for the books. Our team at TaxiFareFinder loves to hear funny, shocking, and just downright outrageous taxi stories! One of our favorite TaxiFareFinder pages is this one here where you can submit your own taxi stories and of course read about other crazy rides. Here are some of our favorites!
Cabbies know it best (Submitted by Kate)
Mine isn’t a complaint at all. I was pregnant and in labor. On the way to the hospital the cabbie kept telling me to breathe. He pretty much carried me into the hospital and offered to stay with me. The next day there were a dozen roses sent to my room. I never knew his name-he signed the card “Cabbie and family”
Estimated Fare: Turkey Sandwich (Submitted by Ari)
I was a 15 year old science nerd stranded in San Francisco with no street smarts, applying to an accelerated program at Stanford. I was all alone without money and I’d missed my bus to the airport, and was going to miss my flight home. I’d gotten a business card from this Arab cabbie who’d driven me from the airport a couple days before, and when I called him and explained my situation he remembered me, burned rubber out to the university, and blew through several red lights to get me to my plane. Stupid me, I hadn\’t even known to give him a tip the first time he’d driven me, but the second time I didn’t even have enough money for the whole fare. All I could do was offer to give him my lunch which was a turkey sandwich from Safeway, and he accepted. That guy really helped me. I still remember his name, thank you Haji.
Yes, you can (Submitted by Ange)
Can I tell a positive story? I took a cab to the commuter rail, and once I got on the train, I realized I had left my BlackBerry in the cab! After calling my phone a couple times, the driver heard it and answered, asking me where he could drop it off. Instead of stealing or ignoring it, he ended up returning it to the dorm for me! I wish I knew who he was and the cab company- a truly awesome cab driver right there.
What a coincidence?! (Submitted By: young and dumb)
I went to chicago with some friends for our senior spring break in high school, took the train from St. Louis to ChiTown. When we got there, we caught a cab to take us to our hotel. He took us to the wrong one, which we didn’t realize until we were inside. Came outside to catch another cab got the same driver again…oh to be 17 again.
As your business grows, it can become quite difficult to manage all of the different aspects that come with owning a business. Some tasks that business owners often face are delegating tasks, making executive decisions, meeting with potential clients, attending business meetings and conventions, and more. With all of these tasks on your plate, who has time to worry about transportation? It is hard enough to manage your schedule, let alone how you are going to get from place to place. Luckily, there are steps that can be taken to ease your hectic workload. One of these steps is contracting with a taxi cab service for corporate transportation.
What is a Corporate Account?
A corporate account is a contract between your business and a taxi service. In many cases, a corporate account operates using a voucher program for different accounts. A voucher book is provided to collect information about the client’s name, phone number, pickup location, destination, and the department that should be charged. If someone who does not work with the company (such as a business client) needs to be picked up, you would also record the name of the person authorizing the trip. You can prearrange your pickup, so regardless of whether your employee needs a ride today or in the future, corporate accounts can get you where you need to go.
How Taxi Service Benefits You
When you choose to contract with a taxi service for your corporate transportation needs, you will find several key benefits. First, contracting with a taxi cab company for your needs ensures that you arrive to your destination on time. Whether you need a ride through rush hour traffic to make it to your airport departure on time or a ride to an important business dinner with potential clients, a reliable taxi cab can get you there as scheduled.
Choosing a taxi service for your business transportation needs also guarantees that you or your client will arrive at their destination in style. Professional cab services offer vehicles that are properly cleaned and maintained, some that do not even look like a taxi cab at all! This allows you to ride in comfort and style on the way to your business destination.
Finally, contracting with a taxi cab service for business transportation offers convenient payment options. In many cases, employees must present a business credit card to charge expenses to the company. When you choose a corporate account, however, you can pay for cab services when they are billed to you. This is a more convenient method of payment. It also allows your employees to avoid the hassle of carrying the proper amount of cash or waiting for a card transaction to be approved.
Airport Transportation
For some employees, business meetings, conferences, and seminars are part of their typical duties. These often require travel to different cities via airplane. A cab service can make this process easier by taking you to the airport on the day of your departure, or by picking you up once you have arrived at your final destination. If you know when your flight is ahead of time, call a few days in advance so you do not have to stress the day before your flight about booking a cab ride. You can also choose to contract with companies outside of the city your company is based in. If you are a frequent visitor to the Chicago area for business meetings, for example, you may find it beneficial to have a corporate account with a taxi service out there.
Client Transportation
When you choose to contract with a cab service for corporate transportation, you also have the advantage of easily setting up transportation for your clients. Have you ever had an important client come into town via airplane? You probably needed to arrange a ride, a hotel, and transportation to business dinners or events. In this instance, all of your client’s transportation needs can be met with a call to a single cab company. This is easy, convenient, and it allows you to provide great service to current or potential business clients.
Business Meetings
Another reason that you may choose to contract with a cab service is for transportation to business meetings. Key players in your company are constantly in meetings- whether they are meeting with board members, meeting to discuss business strategies, or meeting with potential clients. All of these meetings can add up to a hectic schedule- especially if meetings are on the same day. To avoid the struggle of hailing a cab to arrive at your meeting on time, schedule ahead with a cab service offering corporate transportation. Whether you are looking to contract in the area of your business, or in an area that you frequently visit, there are companies around the nation waiting to take on your corporate transportation.
About the Author
Jim Bennett has been with Blue Cab Co. a total of 37 years. As a third generation taxicab operator at Blue Cab in Forest Park, IL, he brings a lifetime of transportation experience to the company. Jim received his B.A. degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Carthage College in 1985. Jim has served as a board member for the industry’s largest trade organization, the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association (TLPA), in Rockville, MD. He is also a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Association.
