Guide to Taxi Booking Application – Enroute to a New Destination

Gone are those days when we used to wave at taxis!

Also, there are those days when we used to share our ride with a stranger. Those days are the talk of the past when we used to be overcharged. 

How? 

Taxi-booking applications are the answer. 

With the arrival of taxi booking applications, the distance between the initial point to the desired destination has been measured precisely with the accurate fare. 

Everything is transparent be it about the ride, fare, driver, or passenger.

The ease of these taxi-booking applications has given great opportunities for taxi-booking mobile app development companies too.

Here in this article, we will be looking at steps to developing a taxi booking app in great depth. So, tighten up your seat belt, you are going to enjoy the long drive today. 

Before letting us kick-start the long drive, take a look at the stops we will be stopping at 

Do you have any idea when the taxi-booking applications came into existence?

Well, the success of these taxi-booking applications is the gift of the tale that started back in the year 2009. 

Before digging deep, let us take you to the flashback-

Flashback To The Good Old Days

The first taxi booking application was mytaxi founded in the year 2009 by Niclaus Mewes and Sven Kulper. Together, they redefined how we travel today. 

A simple idea that turned into a revolution today giving utmost ease to commuters around the globe. The idea behind my taxi was to establish a connection between drivers and passengers to offer a conventional booking process. Luckily, their idea collided with reality and the rest is history. 

Today, the app has been downloaded more than 10 million times and is available in over 40 cities with more than 45,000 affiliated taxis. 

Did you analyze how a simple app idea turned into a trend? 

Well, to follow the trend, if you are planning to go ahead with the taxi booking application, you are in the right place. 

Here in this article, we will explore everything to let you decide why it is time to invest in a taxi-booking application followed by a question. 

As the article is going to be long enough to answer everything you can ask about taxi-booking applications, make sure you are having your favorite beverage on your side. 

Let’s get started- 

We believe facts and figures are a good start to lay the foundation of the upcoming promises. 

On-Demand Taxi Market Figures You Should Not Skip

• As per Statista, it has been estimated that 2.72 billion dollars revenue can be generated from taxi services in the year 2020-2022 in the US.
• Since 2009, in terms of business revenues, the taxi market has seen a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 41.90%. 
• The taxi market is expected to register a CAGR of 9.22%, during the forecast period, 2019-2024.
• Toyota Motor Corporation last year announced to invest USD 500 million in Uber technologies to develop self-driving cars to deploy them in the Uber ride-sharing network by 2021.
• Due to the non-stop need for the same, today Uber is available in 65 countries covering over 600 cities worldwide.
• Uber also offers an outstanding number of 14 million trips completed each day
• Uber’s valuation in the year 2018 was $72 billion.
• According to the forecasted data and with a user penetration rate of 1.7%, the car rental segment will serve around 87.2 million users by 2022.

Due to the demand and ease, these taxi-booking applications have gained momentum and today news apps are coming in the market. 

Despite millions of apps being launched in the app store every day, a very small segment of these apps has secured space in people’s hearts. Uber, Lyft, and Ola are a few names. 

Thus, when going in the direction of a taxi app development company, make sure to ask a few questions before nodding in YES. 

Meanwhile, check out how to finalize an app development company to stop yourself from making the wrong decision. 

As we are done with the basic understanding and market of taxi booking, it is time to fully indulge ourselves in every aspect of it. 

Meanwhile, have you ever thought of why Taxi booking applications are trending in the market?

Here Are The Reasons Why They Are-

1. Smartphone users are increasing
2. Demand for car rental services is also increasing, giving birth to taxi-booking application
3. The demand for taxi-booking applications is forecasted to grow car rental revenue too
4. The demand for ride-sharing users is also increasing
5. Ridesharing revenue is boosting the taxi app development scope too

Top 10 Taxi-Booking Applications Players

Uber

With its reach in more than 630 cities around the globe, without any denying, Uber is ruling the taxi-booking market.

Lyft

Available in more than 200 cities, a great competition for Uber, Lyft is the next entry in the market-dominating the ground. 

Get  

Another entry into the world of the taxi-booking app, Gett has strengthened its root in more than 100 cities across Europe and the US.

Grab

Grab is said to be the most dominating name when it comes to the entire South-East-Asia taxi-booking market.  

Curb

Next in the league, Curb is the app that does not fail to impress users. With more than 50,000 taxis in the US, Curb is stealing the show. 

Juno 

With the all-new approach to taxi driving, Juno is the next entry making people book cabs with ease and comfort. 

Hailo 

With its reach in the UK, Spain, and Ireland, Spain is one of the top taxi booking applications. 

Ola 

Available in India, Ola is the worldwide name providing the fastest travel option in just a few clicks. 

Easy Taxi 

The most loved taxi-booking application is available in more than 420 cities currently with around 25 million users. 

GoCatch

Australia’s best taxi-booking application, GoCatch is another app becoming a show stopper.

Note- the placement of these applications does not define their popularity. They are placed randomly. 

These are the apps that are defining a new way of commuting. Meanwhile, when opening the app store, you must have encountered different kinds of taxi-booking applications. 

It becomes mandatory to bring you clarity about the kinds of taxi booking applications. 

What Are The Types Of Applications You Should Know About

Let’s find out 

Taxi App Development Services

Apps that are meant for those who have established their names in the taxi business carrying their fleet of drivers and cars. 

As an extension, these taxi owners generally go for taxi app development services. When such companies create apps, it becomes easy for the customers to book a ride while putting themselves in front of a larger client base. 

Independent Taxi-Service Booking App

If you are just venturing into the world of taxi-booking service, it is quite obvious that you do not own a fleet of cars and drivers on your side. 

To still walk on the same path, you can simply create an Uber-like Taxi booking application offering mobile booking taxi app development services to the drivers. 

There are two ways to go ahead with it- 

1. Simple
2. Complex

Simple- The simple structure involves a taxi booking solution involving a single app for users stating services that include details such as contact details, prices, calling, and other features. 

Complex- It is much like Uber, complex and fully featured. It requires a server along with investment to deal with. 

The structure involves two versions, the first one belongs to the passenger side whereas the second one is dedicated to the taxi driver side. 

So, this was the briefing on what taxi app development services and applications are all about. 

The very segment will include features that define why these taxi-booking applications are paving the way in the market. 

18 Features That A Taxi-Booking Application Should Have

Here is the list of features the Taxi-booking application should be defined with- 

Geolocation Integration 

Geolocation is the technology that is the need of the hour. Without it, finding or figuring out the location is a bit challenging. 

Escaping this technology when developing a taxi-booking application is like a raw structure without a soul. 

The drivers when accepting the ride request from the user get to know the location of them. But many a time comes a situation when the drivers are not familiar with the destination route, in such a situation, geolocation becomes the savior. 

One of the must-have features in your first taxi-booking application. 

Payment Gateways 

Depriving riders of different payment options is like giving a half-user experience. To let the user enjoy their ride hassle-free, it is mandatory to offer different payment gateways. 

For it, including wallets, net banking, debit/credit cards, and other sorts of payment options for the rider is a smart decision. The options will make them realize that opting for cab booking is indeed a fair bet.

In the midst of all, make sure you are giving equal priority to security too. 

Notifications

When a user is using your taxi-booking application, he/she deserves to be informed of any updates taking place in the application.

Not just the updates, providing riders the notifications about new offers, deals, discounts, cancellation fees, etc. is another required need. 

In short, the push notification feature can bridge the gap between the app and the user. Connecting with a user is easy with it. 

Page For Review

Had a bad ride experience? How will you convey that to the owner or the concerned person?

Okay, how about having a great experience? You would like to give 5 5-star rating and an awesome review too. 

This is it…!

To make riders and commuters pass on the experience they had with your app, integrating reviews, and ratings, the feedback option is nothing less than a great help.

Not just that, reviews, and ratings are the best way to figure out what is wrong in your app and what can be done next.

Scheduling Time

Scheduling rides is quite important in the market and also in the taxi-booking business. 

And you cannot simply ignore it at any cost. Thus, it becomes mandatory to allow users to schedule their rides at their convenience to let them reach their destination on time. 

Option For Ride

Segmenting the rides into different categories is another need for the taxi-booking application. 

You can offer riders the ease of different categories based on cars, money, online methods, etc. 

The Feature That Saves Location

Being a commuter and daily rider going to the same location, I do not want to fill in the address every day…!

To cut the need, users should be given the option to select and save their favorite locations to make accessibility easier and hassle-free. 

Estimated Time Of Arrival

Having a clear idea of a cab’s estimated time of arrival (ETA) can give riders a few minutes to prepare themselves for any last-minute thing. 

When this was just an alternative use, the main role of ETA was to inform riders of the waiting time right at the time of the booking. 

Flexibility In Booking

Most of the time, riders prefer to book a cab for a destination at the desired time. Thus, to attract a maximum number of users, it is a must to give them the flexibility of booking a cab without staying in the shell of time-bound limitations.

Confirmation Of The Taxi

When a rider is booking a cab, it becomes the utmost need for the rider to get detailed information about the rate card, car model, driver details, estimated arrival time, the number to contact, etc. 

Transparency In The Booking

Transparency is something that steals the show when it comes to transactions or money-related things. 

Taking the same thought ahead, when offering taxi-booking service to the user, it is mandatory to show them the right fare amount in a transparent manner. 

Also, the breakdown of the fare can give a way better image to the user like how it is charged and why it is charged.

For effortless sailing, understand what User Persona is all about.

Smooth Onboarding Process

Sign-up is the actual test of patience. The more the long and tedious will be the onboarding process, the more the chances of losing your potential customer. 

Thus, it is recommended to keep the signup process minimal, and user-centric placed precisely. Also, integrating the signup process via social media platforms like Gmail Facebook, etc. can save users to fill in the information once again. 

Remember, onboarding is like welcoming users, make sure you are not turning them off by asking for more and more information. 

Premium Membership 

This is something that adores your taxi-booking application to the fullest. Though, many players in the market are yet to integrate a premium membership feature, now that you have planned to go ahead with one, ensure that you are including it.

Through this, you can provide users the option of choosing the mode of payment and others from various premium plans. 

Also, via this feature, you can catch more popularity by letting riders ride free for a particular distance. Or maybe not charging till the defined distance for those who are holding premium membership. 

Sharing The Cab

You must have heard- “sharing is caring”. The same theory is valid for the cab-sharing application. 

Through the carpooling features, riders can simply share their ride with fellow riders going to the same destination or location. With it, the cost of the trip also gets reduced for the riders. 

Also, what is better than saving the environment from pollution and traffic?

Automated Testing

Whether traveling with the driver for the first time or daily, tracking is something that should not be skipped at any cost. 

For safety purposes, the tracking feature is something that should be integrated into the application. Attending the same, a GPS vehicle tracking system can also be used for trace every moment of the trip. 

With tracking, the option to share the trip status should also be there in the application, just like Uber. 

History Of The Ride

Many a time, riders often want to check the details of their previous rides too. The reason might be anything. 

When appointing an on-demand taxi-booking app development company, make sure to remind them of this feature.  

Contact For Emergency 

To ensure the safety of the passengers, there should be something in the app to inform them. It could be a button or a feature that will send details of the ride to the prefilled emergency contact numbers. 

Drivers Reviews

Admit it or not, some people are choosy and satisfying their needs, so it becomes important to highlight the review and rating of the driver too. 

On one hand, it becomes easy for the rider to choose the trip based on the review given to the ride. On the other hand, this feature will help riders rate the driver too. 

So, these were the 18 most precious features that should be inculcated in the taxi booking application. 

Now, it is the right time to understand the mechanism or better say the technology stack behind the taxi booking application. 

Here we go once again- 

Technology Stack Behind Taxi-Booking Applications

Always remember, that the right selection of tech stack makes or breaks the application. 

When it comes to how to build an app like Uber, or Ola, the right choice of tech stack should be considered as a priority. 

Below are some suggested tech stacks behind taxi-booking applications that are ruling the market to consider- 

• Programing Language: Swift, Objective C for iOS, Java, and Kotlin for Android.
• Backend: AngularJS (Backend UI), Node JS (Socket and Application API), Codeigniter (Backend API)
• Cloud: MySQL or Amazon Aurora 
• Map and Navigation: Google Map service, MapKit, Mapbox
• SMS and Call: Twilio and TokBox
• Push Notifications: Firebase
• Payment Gateway: Stripe, PayPal (Braintree), etc., and for saving cards- Card.io
• Location: Google Location API, Mapbox location picker, CoreLocation
• Real-Time Analytics: Google Analytics

With these tools, do you know how to get started with a taxi-booking application?

No?

We will help you…!

Just 5 + 1 Steps To Get Started With Taxi Booking Application

If you have scrolled down till here, it is quite obvious that you are planning to venture into the world of mobile applications if not tried earlier. 

So, here are the 4 steps to developing a taxi booking app, the steps we at Appventurez thoroughly follow- 

Step 1- Find Your Niche

Step 2- Technical Audit And Research Phase

Step 3- Taxi-Booking Application Documentation

Step4 – Developing The Final App

Step 5- Deploying The Application 

Step 1 – Finding The Niche

When our clients approach us for the application, we often recommend they decide their niche to get started with. 

Once done with the basic niche clarity, we take the project to the next level called the research phase. 

Step 2 – Technical Audit And Research Phase

The second phase is dedicated to the technical audit and research phase. 

We research what made the competitors an actual competition and do technical audits too. By gathering crucial information, we made plans as per the extracted information to develop the application along with measures to be taken care of and what next-level things can be integrated into the app.

Step 3 – Taxi-Booking Application Documentation

Once done with the second phase of audit and research, we precisely form taxi-booking application documentation. 

Documentation that is filled with what technology stack we will be using, how will the architecture look like, the functions and functionality our app will consist of, and what methodology we will be using- waterfall or agile. 

Step 4 – Developing The Application 

As per the project requirement, we hand over the project tasks to our experts based on priority. When done with it, we reach the level of testing precisely done by our testers. 

In the midst of all this, we often recommend clients try the MVP(Minimum Viable Product) approach. 

Step 5- Deployment Of Taxi-Booking Application

Reaching this step means the app is ready to be used by commuters and riders. By using the Apple ASO strategy for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store ASO strategy, we then deploy the application. 

Letting users open to the feedback helps us understand what can be done next and what are the things that are troubling the users. 

You must be waiting for the one last step to how do I create a taxi booking app?

Well, here it is.

Step 5 +1- App Maintenance

We believe in transparency and thus offer solutions accordingly. 

When it comes to how on-demand taxi booking works, many of our clients believe that if the app is developed, we are done with the process. But they often forget that the real work starts from there only. 

Once the app is developed and deployed to the app store, it reaches the next phase called- app maintenance. 

It is the phase where the app needs to be fueled with updates, bug-fixing, updation, and many more things. To make the app always look great and behave like a magnet to the users, constant updates in it is the needed. 

These are the steps to developing a taxi booking app that is just the gist of what we do and there is more to it that can only be conveyed by connecting with our experts. 

Now, that you are investing in taxi-booking applications, it is your right to earn money through an application too. 

Before digging down how to prioritize if you are planning to offer the app for free to earn money or going to charge users for the same. 

By understanding the whys and hows, let’s check out how to earn money through your taxi booking application. 

2 Ways To Earn Money Through The Taxi-Booking Application

Among many other ways to earn money, there are 2 strongest ways to earn money through an application. 

Take a look at the Revenue Generation Model before figuring out the ways- 

1. Fees and commissions
2. Advertising and promotional partnership

Fees And Commissions

You can charge a commission for each booking when the driver receives the request. The commission generally falls under a 20-25% bar graph of the total ride cost. 

Apart from that, just like Uber, you can also charge service fees too. 

When using the same, you can add other costs like service, security, or money transaction costs. 

Furthermore, the cancellation fee is another way to earn money. When a rider cancels the trip, he/she can be charged partially. 

Advertising And Promotional Partnership

You can earn money by collaborating with popular brands too. 

Opting for this kind can be a favorable situation for all the parties. When you are receiving money through promoting the brands, your users can receive benefits of the On-Demand Taxi Booking Mobile Application in terms of gifts, deals, and discounts.  Meanwhile, the brands you are promoting will also get the advantage of user interaction and popularity. 

Moving on to the other hand, advertising is another way to earn money. 

You can adopt a cost-per-click or cost-per-mile commission from local businesses or brands that are promoting their services in your application. 

Find these monetizing strategies interesting.

Now, you must be wondering will these things help you go ahead like how to build an app like Uber.

Well, they will if you believe your idea can revolutionize the way users ride and follow these pro tips we are about to render. 

Let’s start- 

How Can Your Taxi Booking Application Top The Chart Like Uber

Admit it, Uber has 91 million active users making it the biggest competitor in the taxi booking domain. 

Don’t be disheartened, there are still ways to reach the level of Uber.

Scroll down and find those ways- 

3 Steps To Reach Status Like Uber

Talk About The Unique Value Proposition

Not just for the user your app should be attractive enough for drivers too. For that, create a unique value proposition for both sides. 

Here are some examples to try your hand with-

Motivating Passenger Side

To motivate users to stick to your app, offer them something your competitor is lacking. 

They might be- 

• Tracking the driver with one click
• Occasional discounts and deals
• Fix price for common destinations
• Cashless transactions 
• Ride fare and estimated duration to reach 

For Drivers Side

To motivate the maximum number of drivers to your taxi service, give them things like-

• Insurance coverage
• Earning money on peak workload
• No fee or investment for joining the thread
• Flexible working hours
• Mobile payments

Understand Your Niche

we have mentioned earlier that your niche will decide whether your app is going to rock the streets or not. For example- electric cars.

Today, people are aware of the fact that there are ecological and environmental issues prevailing in society, thus they make choices by choosing eco-friendly transport. 

This is the reason, why eco-friendly taxi booking applications can be a great idea to get started with. 

Challenging?

Well, take the example of Green Cabs Taxis, one of the leading New Zealand environment-friendly taxi companies. They use electric vehicles along with donating to tree plantations. 

If not this, another medium can be motorbikes. 

Take the example of GrabBike, Rapido, and Limobike, and see how they are flourishing too. 

Expand Your Reach To Other Countries Too

Limiting your business to a certain boundary will not help you see your app nearby apps like Uber. 

How to Make an App like Uber?

Reaching the maximum number of users would directly impact the performance, and popularity of the app. 

Indulge in the market research and check out where you can expand your roots. Once you have a place to expand apart from the obvious ones, you are all set to mark your value in the market. 

Now, the real question arises here and that is how much taxi app development costs.

No idea?

Well, we can provide you with a rough idea based on certain things.

Shall we move further?

Cost-Estimation Of Taxi-Booking Application

To be frank, there is no accurate pricing chart to develop a taxi app, whereas there are several aspects that can definitely hint at the taxi app development cost 

Apart from that, do not forget that you will be required to make apps as per – the admin panel, user panel, and driver panel. 

Meanwhile, those factors we are talking about are-

• Platform choice, it could be Android or iOS or native or hybrid.
• Focus on UI and UX. Once decided, there are time-tested user engagement tricks you should definitely follow. 
• The frontend and backend development
• Web development
• Integration of security features
• QA and Maintenance
• Web development

For a clearer view, given below table estimates the approximate number of hours meant for each phase of the app development- 

Also, the taxi app requires-

• Quality assurance managers 
• Business analysts
• Project managers 

Which ultimately increases the taxi app development cost by 20-30%.

The funds can be- 

Meanwhile, if you are planning to develop a taxi-booking application for 2 different platforms- iOS and Android, 

Check out- 

Once done with it, we are good to go with how we at Appventurez estimate the app cost.

When this is the taxi app development cost, the cost of maintenance also requires a good amount of cost. 

Once done with how much the Uber app costs to make, Maintenance cost is something that cannot be ignored. To make your app fresh, attractive, and useful, always fuel the app with fresh content, updates, and features. 

So, this is all about how taxi booking applications are ruling the market greatly. 

Now, it is your time to develop an app for your business with us. 

We will fuel your application with great features, functionalities, and a great UI connect with us today…!