In times past, hailing a cab required a whistle, wave or phone call.
Now, all you need to do is tap an app on your smartphone.
Garden City Cabs is trying out a new service provided by Toronto-based, high-tech firm Gata Labs which allows customers to request a cab, and by tying into the user’s GPS information on their smartphone can provide confirmation of its estimated arrival time, and even calculate the fare.
Charles Duncan, general manager at Garden City Cabs, said the app, called Gata Hub, is expected to be beneficial for all customers, but especially so for out-of-towners not familiar with the local cab market.
“This gives us an advantage by helping a customer find a cab service right away,” said Duncan, adding his firm is in a three-month test period. “Even if we get eight to 10 more trips a week, it will still be a benefit to us. Those are trips we’d never have seen before. And for the little capital investment, I can’t see anything but a benefit from it.
“This is going to be great for travellers, especially for those visitors up at the River Rock (Casino Resort) and other hotels,” he said, adding while there are already operating agreements in place with those destinations to supply a steady stream of cabs, there are times when their availability can be scarce.
“At least this will be another option for customers to use to find a cab as quickly as they can.”
Vineet Kumar, who has only been on the job with Garden City Cabs for the past six months, said the new app sounds like a great idea that can make his work day more efficient.
“Pretty much everyone has a smartphone, right?” he said. “So, this is going to be a big advantage for us.”
“At the end of the day we want to provide the best customer experience we can,” said Simon Bourgeois, president and co-founder of Gata Labs Inc. “And by having the GPS interface that locates where the customer is, just makes their lives easier.”
Garden City Cabs already has its own, in-house app, but that is limited to connecting customers to the firm’s website ordering service or dispatcher who takes the caller’s information and arranges the ride in the raditional way.
Richmond Taxi has an app produced by Richmond-based DDS Wireless International, which also features a GPS location service.
Shashi Engineer, general manager at Richmond Taxi, said the app has been used for the past three months and has proved to be popular with customners.
Meanwhile, at Kimber Cabs, general manager Parm Singh said his firm does not have an app yet, but plans are to have one in place in the near future.
Gata Lab’s Bourgeois added his company is in talks with other cab firms in the Lower Mainland — Gata Labs other client in B.C. is in Chilliwack — to adopt their technology now, before the anticipated arrival in the market of San Francisco-based Uber, a ridesharing service which also uses a smartphone app that is currently available in more than 100 cities across 45 countries.
Bourgeois said Uber uses cab drivers who are not licensed to operate their service which is dispatched using smartphone connectivity.
