Are the days of flagging a taxi on-street coming to an end? With an ever-increasing range of technology driven options on the market the tides seem to be turning and new kid on the block, Maaxi, claims that their service gives the best deal for customers – and drivers.
Sharing the Load
Currently available exclusively to London black cab drivers, the app is designed to connect passengers with others who are travelling in the same direction. Costs for customers can be as low as public transport fares and this gives the app the edge compared to Uber according to the firm’s chief executive, Gabi Campos:
“The fares are distributed according to the distance and time the person spends in the taxi, so that if five people share a journey they split the fare for that portion in five, and if in a subsequent shared journey only four are sitting in the taxi, the fare is shared by four.”
Enticing passengers with low door-to-door fares isn’t Maaxi’s only aim, they claim they’re working on the side of the drivers too. Campos explains: “The taxi driver charges each person less than the meter fare but overall gets more, when putting together all the partial fares – a true win-win.”
Gearing Up
The app has so far only managed to capture the attention of around 10% of London’s 25,000 cab drivers, perhaps due to its lengthy launch process. Campos explains why it took almost 6 months for Maaxi to hit users’ phones: “It was a matter of getting it right, making it effortless for the customer.”
With a slow start, the company remains confident that theirs is the way forward for price-savvy commuters and cab drivers alike. One of its main striking points is the London rush hour. Whilst Uber raises its fares during peak demand periods, Campos explains that Maaxi will keep costs to a minimum: “Maaxi will decrease prices then because the number of people going in the same direction is quite high. Uber will charge more than a cab.”
Mixed Reactions
Registered in the UK where Uber is not, exclusive to black cab drivers whilst its rival concentrates its efforts on private hire, Maaxi has all the hallmarks of taking a strong stance against the global taxi-app giant.
Potential flaws in the company’s process have been pointed out however, with Pocket-lint.com writer, Chris Hall, commenting: “You have to be really keen to save money to want to stop to pick up strangers.”
Others have welcomed Maaxi’s attempt to compete with other taxi-app operators and with Splyt – a private hire fare-sharing service – hot on its heels, it seems like the taxi trade might be gearing up for a game-changing year of technology test-drives.