Taxi Driver Online

This is based in Barrow-in-Furness, so thought it was maybe the Ubaro app publicised there that was maybe branching out a bit.

But looks like it's a totally different operation.


Ambitious Cumbria start-up sets sights on improved taxi efficiency with innovative app

https://www.cumbriacrack.com/2019/10/24 ... ative-app/


Image: Cumbria Crack

An innovative Cumbria-based start-up is looking to shake up the taxi industry with its revolutionary app platform and unique approach to the passenger, driver and operator experience in towns and cities across the country.

MyTaxio is the product of in-depth research by Barrow In Furness entrepreneur, Patrick Holm. His solution uses innovative app technology to help taxi operators, drivers and passengers enjoy mutually beneficial transactions, additional ease of use and enhanced safety features.

The app has been trailed in Cumbria, gathering valuable feedback from taxi drivers and passengers across the region over a period of several months earlier this year.

Mytaxio’s subscription ‘pay as you go’ service works as a smart fare calculator and booking app. Drivers using it to carry passengers pay a small commission with customers seeing a transparent price estimate for the journey, based on individual council pricing. Passengers also get more choice, freedom and flexibility as instead of calling round multiple different taxi firms, they can just pull up the MyTaxio app.

MyTaxio is intended as a win-win for taxi firms, drivers and passengers. Private hire drivers can work via operators using the MyTaxio platform and Hackney drivers can supplement their income by using the app. Operators will still retain their own drivers and can use the MyTaxio network to ensure their taxis are full the majority of the time.

Patrick Holm, Managing Director of Mytaxio, said “MyTaxio is designed to work with operators, for drivers and benefit passengers. On the taxi company side, there’s no need to invest in costly apps or deal with updates. We want to bring operators and drivers together as a collective to make the taxi community far more efficient. We help operators promote their services to a larger audience and give drivers additional benefits to help their supplement their standard incomes.

“By offering a wide range of features that make life easier and more rewarding for both driver and user, we are urging anyone that either drives or uses taxis to join and share in the new taxi economy with us. From here in Cumbria, we want to revolutionise the industry for the better and help local taxi drivers and residents reap the rewards on offer from our new platform.”

When MyTaxio drivers introduce the service to their colleagues, they will earn a permanent loyalty commission for all their colleague’s future trips.

Users can rate their driver following any journey to reward excellent service, helping local cabbies get the recognition they deserve for offering a great service.

With voice recognition and five click hailing, Mytaxio makes it quick and easy to book a taxi too, with a zero booking fee and pre-agreed rates for journeys.

To find out more about Mytaxio and to download the free app, visit https://mytaxio.com/

This is very like the spiel used to promote one or two other apps, and there's more than a touch of wishful thinking about it all.

I mean, as if ops are going to get on board with this if it's used by other ops and independent drivers. It's stealing their thunder, basically, and more wishful thinking than 'bringing operators and drivers together'.

And indeed, look at some of the stuff he's punting to drivers to win them over - how to win operator friends and influence them. Not.


- High operator rental fees

- When business is slow, you still have to pay rental fees

- Limited choice of taxi operators due to monopolies

And a long blogpost on their website has the title:

'Removing the wheel clamp of operator costs'


A shedload of other stuff on their website, though, and some of it looks questionable. Might have a proper look later

Oh I like this bit



Wonder what shenanigans a user with a rooted phone could get up to if the system is using their phone rather than a secure server...

Well you've lost me there, but presumably that's some sort of security issue?

But I did notice misspelling 'solely' as 'souly' - maybe he's a fan of Marvin Gaye?

And also noticed they're making big play of how their 'distributed cloud system' was 50 times cheaper than the 'cloud based solution herd'?

Which doesn't seem like the kind of cost advantage you'd be bragging about to potential customers/drivers, because I think they're charging 14% commission, which doesn't seem particularly cheap.

And drivers have to pay some kind of 'credit' charge in advance, and the commission is deducted from that. So basically a driver has to pay an upfront fee, but it's not clear how much that is.

Mind you, they're claiming that drivers elsewhere are paying up to £250 in office fees each week, so that maybe makes their offer look a bit better. But which drivers are paying £250 per week just for offices to hand them out jobs?

for mytaxio read my taxi app it is a German based business which is a German app although i think it started out and failed in the UK but now belongs to VW I think

I suspect Barrow has been deliberately chosen to kill off Ubaro

MYtaxio seem to be another app attempting to gain world domination against Gett and Uber

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Don't know where the name or concept came from, but 99% certain it's more cottage industry than global multinational.

I mean, he's got separate pages (although with a large element of repetition) for 'taxi services' in Cumbrian locations like Cleator-Moor, Dalton in Furness and Bowness on Windermere

https://mytaxio.com/locations/

But that's the funny thing (and the giveaway as regard your point, I suspect) - in some respects it looks micro-local, in others it's national and even global in outlook, but suspect that's mere wishful thinking and it will sink without trace, at least in terms of its claim that "all 360 UK boroughs included".

Spent some time looking at the various stuff on Friday, and don't want to go back there, but one important point is that if they do intend covering all boroughs then if they're giving work to PHVs then they'd need hundreds of operator's licences?

Of course, if they were giving work only to HCs, then that wouldn't be a problem, but looking at even a small sample of the dozens of pages, graphics and blogposts suggests that they haven't really considered the difference properly - the most specific mentions I found were:

This under 'product benefits' to passengers:

"All local registered Hackney and Private drivers for extra safety"

Which is a bit vague, but suggests they are using or intended to use PHDs?

Or this, hidden away on one page:

"Here are 3 ways we’re helping Cumbria, Maryport Private Taxi Drivers and other region drivers like you to create a successful business:"

In terms of licensing 'private taxi driver' doesn't really mean anything in the technical sense, so what are they getting at - PHDs? Independent HCDs? Both?

But maybe the giveway is in the article from last week, which states:



Ah, now we're getting somewhere - suggests they've finally realised they would need PH operators' licences (so are relying on drivers having one themselves or also working for a licenced operator) but that they don't need one to give work to HCDs.

So what's the betting they've spent months on the website, blog, etc, without properly making the HC/PH distinction nor realising the difference in terms of licensing?

But now they have, hence the more specific and accurate references in Friday's article

By the way, the service apparently covers Carlisle, and wasn't Captain Cab involved with the Barrow-in-Furness trade?

So maybe he knows a bit more, and that it's not owned by VW, nor is it a realistic challenge to Uber and Gett.

Might be a threat to Ubaro in Barrow, but Gett and Uber would never have regarded Ubaro as a threat anyway, other than as a possible trademark infringement with regard to the name

Well a 1 man PH ops licence is £320 for 5 years around here. Unfortunately for a lot of the PH drivers it will mean the end to their work with the big ops as they like to check the list of licenced operators so they can purge drivers who might be taking on their own work.

Indeed, which is why MyTaxio seems now to have decided that it will be working *with* operators rather than against them.

Which in turn is why it won't work, unless he comes to some sort of arrangement with operators in each area which aren't competing against each other.

Which indeed seems to be what happened with Ubaro in Barrow - it seemed to effectively *become part of* an established office, rather than a standalone operation *competing with* the traditional offices.

Does make a bit of a mockery of drivers being self employed tho. There's a word for contractors that you don't want working for themselves or others... Employees.

Some reaction from Barrow on the new app


Barrow based entrepreneur has launched a new taxi app which he hopes to take national

https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/17998674 ... -national/

A BARROW entrepreneur has started a new taxi app which he is hoping to go national with in future.

The innovative Cumbria based start-up is looking to shake up the taxi industry with its revolutionary app platform and unique approach to the passenger, driver and operator experience in towns and cities across the country.

MyTaxio is the product of in-depth research by Barrow In Furness entrepreneur, Patrick Holm. His solution uses app technology to help taxi operators, drivers and passengers enjoy mutually beneficial transactions.

The app has been trailed in Cumbria, as well as nationally in 135 different taxis, gathering valuable feedback from taxi drivers and passengers across the region over a period of several months earlier this year.

They launched the app to customers in late August and currently have more than 50 drivers on using their app.

One Barrow based taxi company said they welcome rivals coming into the market.

Scott Beckman, from Ubaro, said: "Its just another taxi company, we are a high spec company and we welcome rivals coming into the market.

"I guess whoever offers the best service will come out on top."

The owner of MyTaxio does not believe that his new app is a rival as he is providing an entirely different service.

Patrick Holm, Managing Director of Mytaxio, said “MyTaxio is designed to work with operators, for drivers and benefit passengers. On the taxi company side, there’s no need to invest in costly apps or deal with updates. We want to bring operators and drivers together as a collective to make the taxi community far more efficient.

"We offer better value at the best possible price."

Barrow borough council are in charge of licensing taxi and were asked their thoughts on taxi apps in the area.

Councillor Tony Callister, Barrow Borough Council spokesman for Licensing, said: "Local councils are responsible for regulating taxis and private hire vehicles.

"We would advise residents to make sure any taxi or private hire vehicle they travel in is fully licensed."

Instructive that Ubaro now simply described as a 'Barrow based taxi company'. So the new app-based service has effectively been shunted into a traditional office, therefore now it's simply a cab office with an app. (As was pointed out regarding a previous article about an Ubaro tie-up with a local office.)



Again, more likely to be wishful thinking than a practical reality.

Instead of bring ops together, more likely to be dealing directly with individual drivers, or getting together with a single established operator, as Ubaro did.

Creating an app-based service on paper is one thing, but suspect the more difficult bit is getting customers downloading and using it.

Which is probably why the big boys have a shedload of cash via Wall Street to penetrate new markets, or are backed by big multinationals in other fields, but either way they have the necessary financial muscle to develop a brand and spend big bucks on advertising, driver incentives etc.

Save me reading all the sales stuff, but what exactly is the USP of this app.

As if it doesn't have a supa dupa one, it's doomed.

_________________
IDFIMH

No real USP, as far as I can see - largely the usual app spiel.

Or maybe it's the fact the drivers have to make some sort of upfront deposit on their fees - maybe that's a Unique *Misselling* Point

But you're right, which is why I suspect it will never be much more than of local interest, or of marginal relevant nationally