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RideCharge – Book Cabs Via Your Mobile Phone
RideCharge is a startup that offers a way to book your cab and car service rides via a mobile phone. The idea seems similar to recently launched NY-based CabEasy. The RideCharge service works in about 30 large cities in the U.S. In NYC they only work with private car services as taxis can’t be booked here.
You book the cab via your mobile and can pay for the trip via the mobile as well. RideCharge also offers an expense function which makes it easier than collecting the little receipts the drivers provide (although for those who beef up the tip/ride, this will make that impossible). The system also notifies you when your cab is at your location ready for pickup.
I think the real benefit is not having to remember the numbers of the cab companies in each city. The downside is putting your trust into the service that the reservation has been made, etc.
It looks like RideCharge also has an iPhone application called Taxi Magic which seems like a way to book a regular taxi in a similar set of cities as RideCharge.
Hi Allen, thanks for the great post!
You do a great job of highlighting RideCharge’s benefits and I’m glad to see you’ve noticed the added advantage of not having to save millions of cab numbers for whatever city you may be in.
I do want to address a couple issuse you mention:
You note that there is a risk of placing a reservation and not having it go through. As each RideCharge user can arrange to receive email or text confirmation for bookings, it’s simple to see when a ride has been successfully booked.
As for TaxiMagic, you are correct, it is an iPhone application that we developed in conjuction with RideCharge’s Blackberry, and Windows Mobile options. Taxi Magic connects iPhone location features with taxi computer dispatch systems to let you book taxis instantly, and get back real-time GPS updates about where your car is.
Thanks again for the write-up. Keep your eyes peeled for more product enhancements and broader availability!