Taxi Driver Online

This is a bit bizarre. Why would an Inverness taxi operator team up with a coder in Leicestershire to launch an app to help people who feel unsafe walking home?

And all the blather about the driver shortage - we're 170,000 short nationwide, doncha know?

But follow the link, and the page is actually part of a website for a pretty bog standard sounding app, so this is basically all about just one function of the app

Still a bit bizarre for a taxi app to promote a function for people who are walking home, though

But this below just seems like advertorial to promote the app, which was apparently 'born in the height of the pandemic'

So don't know if the 'new app' in the headline is strictly accurate - it's maybe just a new function on an existing app.



Inverness taxi firm boss launches new app to improve lone walker safety

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/new ... wa-299086/

A new initiative to improve safety for anyone forced to walk alone, especially at night, is to be rolled out across the country.

SafeWalk is a free app that allows people to share details of their movements with friends or family in real-time and includes an inbuilt SOS button to summon help immediately if something goes wrong.

The app can be downloaded from https://safekab.co.uk/safewalk

It has been devised by Dr Mostafa Moghisi and Inverness Taxis boss Gavin Johnston in response to a nationwide shortage of cab drivers which has forced many people to walk home alone at night.

Mr Johnston said: “Since the pandemic there is a massive problem with a shortage of drivers resulting in serious safety issues, especially at weekends and nights.

“There’s a shortage of around 170,000 of taxi drivers across the UK, forcing taxi companies to let people down.

"With no cars available, and recent problems with public transport, a lot of people have had to find other ways to get home, even if it means walking alone in the dark or excepting lifts from strangers.”

SafeWalk allows users to enter a destination, time of departure and share details of their route with contacts in their smartphone directory, who can watch the journey on a map in real-time.

Should the user deviate from the planned path, stop in one place for too long or fail to reach their destination within the estimated time of arrival all the selected contacts are immediately alerted that something is wrong, and given that person’s precise location.

There is even an SOS button so if anyone feels threatened or thinks they are being followed they can send an alert to their contacts to summon immediate help.

Research carried out by Stop Violence Against Women found 50 per cent of women in the UK felt unsafe walking alone after dark, even in a busy public place, and 29 per cent complained of having felt like they were being followed.

The same research also found that as many as one in five men felt unsafe on the streets alone at night and that disabled people felt less safe walking alone in all settings compared to non-disabled.

The research was carried out in the wake of increased public anger about violence against women and girls following the murders of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry, Nicole Smallman and others.

Dr. Mostafa who has been writing logistical programs for the taxi industry for over 30 years said he could see SafeWalk being of interest to lots of people, and not just those who can’t get a taxi.

“It could be used by dog walkers, cyclists, joggers or anyone who feels uneasy at being out and about on their own, whether at night or during the day,” said Dr Mostafa, who is based in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

“We’ve even had parents who like the idea of using the app as an added safety measure for their children walking home from school or an activity.”

Suspect it's been written by a mate.

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IDFIMH

Highland firm ready to take on the 'big guns' one city at a time


Gavin Johnston Inverness Taxis

“We’ve got a mammoth task ahead of us, but what we are doing is ensuring that family businesses that have existed for generations keep going,” says Gavin Johnston.

He’s the owner of Inverness Taxis and the co-founder of Safekab, an app created to ensure the safe travel of passengers and taxi drivers across the country. Having officially launched the app in Inverness last year, the ‘game plan’ is to bring the service to different cities.

It’s a David vs Goliath-type story, as Gavin and his team want to ensure taxi firms up and down the country have a platform their customers can use, providing an alternative to other multinational companies that have infiltrated cities in the last few years and caused many taxi firms to crumble.

Speaking at his office in Lotland Street, Gavin is a humble business owner, but from his body language and the way he talks about Safekab, it is clear that he is not only extremely proud of the app, but he is passionate about how it will help so many. This has also been recognised further afield, as he and the team were invited down to Westminster at the end of last year to demonstrate the app to MPs, for which they received lots of praise.

He continues: “The big multinational apps are pushing other companies out of the way. We see Safekab as a tool smaller operators can use, and if we get a network of operators in different cities using the app, it gives the public another choice that supports the local operator, which is vitally important.

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IDFIMH

For anyone thinking the above article looks a bit, er, truncated, this is the rest of it

Or maybe 'advert' is a better word for it than 'article'

So to that extent, nothing particularly illuminating in the rest of the article, although as the vast majority of my jobs come off the ranks I'm a bit annoyed that he's saying public hires are unsafe, effectively, while safety is 'assured' if booked by app



“There are family businesses that have been in operation for generations, and we don’t want them to lose business because of the big guns.

“Safekab ensures all the profits stay in that area – not like the apps where the percentage is shoved back to the shareholders.”

Safekab was born out of the pandemic when Inverness Taxis had to ensure that there were safety screens within the cars, contactless payments were being used, and everything had to be sanitised after every use.

“We realised there was a big demand for what we were offering, so we decided to expand the offering and develop the app,” says Gavin.

"The app includes an emergency SOS button; it allows you to choose your taxi driver and see their past reviews and the car they are using. You track your taxi, find out the fixed price, and share your location with family and friends.”

“Everything is accountable, which is so important when we are firm moving people around.

“I tell everyone, even my own family, to book taxis through a local reputable company when they are travelling.

“When you book on a phone or app, everything is recorded, but if you flag on the street or get from a rank, nothing is recorded. So, if you lose something or anything happens, there is no trace. “With Safekab, everything is accountable and recorded.”

Not only does Safekab provide ensured safety for the customer, but it also provides added support to the taxi drivers. With an in-built SOS feature, drivers can alert the Safekab office and other drivers nearby if they are in danger.

Gavin says: “Unfortunately, we’re seeing more and more that some customers are causing trouble for us. People are not wanting to pay, doing a runner, or being abusive and aggressive.

“The safety feature on Safekab is reassuring for the driver. If they hit the SOS button, it goes to all the drivers and office staff, and we can see exactly where they are, and we can respond quickly.” Gavin and his team have gone even further with the app by providing Safewalk, which enables those who are walking home or to a destination to share their location with friends and family and the Safekab office.

He says: “Safewalk is a safety feature available to the community. It can be used anywhere, nationwide, at any time by anyone who downloads the Safekab App. It is free and simple to use.

“When a user is walking home, they can share that journey with a family member or friend. If they feel threatened by anyone, they can press the App Panic Button. This will make a loud noise and will alert their exact location to the closest Safekab office and will open up communication between them and the office.”

Safekab will be rolled out in Aberdeen this year, and from there Gavin hopes to expand it to other Scottish cities. He concludes: “If you use Safekab, you are supporting local. If we can get it to work, everyone is going to win.”

15 Lotland Pl, Inverness IV1 1ST

W: http://www.safekab.org

T: 01463 710000

E: info@safekab.org

Yes, I mean, with the likes of the uber-safe Uber app, nothing has ever gone wrong or a driver turned out to be bad.

Anyway, it's the usual spiel about keeping things local/taking on the multinationals, then expanding to cover the whole world, and making it sound like the app is somehow groundbreaking, while there must be dozens of these in the UK alone.

To be fair, the SafeWalk think for people walking home is a bit different. But, I mean, a taxi operator encouraging people to walk home?

Who'd have guessed that the proprietor would be trying to tell the public that rank hirings are unsafe on the one hand, yet when trying to recruit more drivers he's telling them that their duties would include 'populating taxi ranks for ad-hoc jobs'

In other words, clogging up the ranks when he's got no work for them