How to develop a native taxi booking app like Uber?

Author: Ritesh Patil

Uber has been a game changer in the field of transportation. It has opened a Pandora’s box of competition in the mobile taxi field. Given the cope, everyone wants to have one now. With consumer preferences changing and technology invading our lives, Uber has been able to create a niche for itself. It has also created a billion dollar business and opened up infinite opportunities for many other players to take advantage of.

However, it needs to be known that creating such an app will require a thorough market research and of course a detailed app creation.

In this article, we will discuss how to develop a native taxi booking app like Uber.

Why should you develop a Taxi App?

The point to ponder here is that you can either be a taxi provider, very much like Uber who has its own fleet of vehicles for transportation or a taxi aggregator, where you can direct requests and bookings to respective mobile taxi sites. Here we would be talking about the first scenario.

In this case, the mobile app is an extension o your taxi business. Here the user will book the nearest cab which is available from your app and your cab company will direct the cab to your location. The driver is in direct contact with the passenger and thus time is saved.

Features Involved

Such an app will have the map, booking history, cancellation history, payment history as well as the option of paying mode. The GPS of your mobile tracks the taxi and the driver too with the help of his mobile’s GPS tracks the passenger. Once the ride starts, the central tracking of the cab is done from the control room or the central server.

To create the map, one can use Apple’s MapKit framework to embed a functional map into the app. This map will provide a two-dimensional view of the surroundings, including the roads and lanes. The location mentioned by the user is sent to the server where is it translated into a readable address using Google’s GSMGeocoder. This process is actually called Reverse Geocoding.

Decoding the Taxi App

So how is the trip metered? Traditional taxis have relied on the meters installed in their vehicles. For new age cabs, the GPS comes into play. The GPS measures the distance covered and then compares it with the inbuilt rate chart. The receipt is then generated. In other words, your taxi app can do all the following:

  • Book taxi requests for you
  • Track down the user through GPS for easy pickup
  • Use GPS to make you reach your destination quickly
  • Store user details to ensure that there is more safety
  • Easy access to customer redressal system
  • A secure server that can help you reach out to your customer base as needed

You can build on customer loyalty and build brand image. You're able to ensure that you have customers who are really interested in your product.

A note of caution here. The mobile cabs also accept cash payment and hence the chances of the user cancelling the trip are high. With a registered user option, the company has credit card details of the passenger and hence the cumbersomeness associated with a cash transaction is eliminated. Also the probability of cancellations drops.

Building a good taxi app ecosystem

The mobile taxi app stands on two pillars. The first one is the in built map and the second one the online payment option. You would need a robust, safe and well-encrypted integration of the payment gateway with your app. There are quite a few such payment tools which are safe and secure. Braintree comes highly recommended. It is easy to use and also provides quite a robust and secure payment channel. Its Venmo Touch network allows a user to make a one-touch purchase without having to insert credit card details repeatedly.

With Uber opening up the sector of mobile taxi booking, there has been a torrent of start-ups focusing on the same. You need to understand the kind of business model one is looking at - whether as a transport provider or whether as a taxi aggregator.