The common refrain for those of us who frequent New York City is that you can never get a taxi cab when you need one. The good news is that help is on the way in the form of a smartphone app, more accurately by virtue of an app that links to the service of an Israeli-based start-up, GetTaxi. The company, which has only been around since 2010, recently secured an additional $20 million so it can expand operations from its current operations in Israel, the UK and Russia into the highly competitive (mobile app companies such as Uber, Haillo, Cabulous are players) and lucrative New York market.   Let me explain.

Let’s talk app

So here is how the GetTaxi app works:  

·         Find a cab:  See if your  best option is a street hail, digital hail or book a car

·         Pay any way you want:  Drivers with the GetTaxi will be payment agnostic. This means passengers can pay via a stored credit card, digital wallet, through a monthly plan, a corporate account, or  payment networks such as Dwolla or PayPal (News - Alert)

·         Share a ride and split the fare:  Coming soon is a feature that allows passengers to identify and join a shared ride. The app splits the bill at payment time

·         Find an accessible or hybrid vehicle:  New Yorkers will be able to track the location of special vehicles such as those that are handicap-friendly

·         Earn loyalty points:  Redeemable for free rides and merchandise

·         Choose your language: GetTaxi will be available in New York in 16 languages, catering to the city’s diverse population and ensuring that it’s easy for tourists to get around as well

·         Rate your driver:  A learn as it grow feature that let’s passengers know who they are dealing with, and keeps drivers on their toes

·         Find lost property:  GetTaxi knows which car you were in making lost item retrieval easy  

 GetTaxi has partnerships with Des Moines Iowa based Dwolla for payment processing, and with HopStop which will allow GetTaxi users to combine their commute with more than one transportation method. For example, New Yorkers will be able to coordinate their cab ride with buses, subways, etc.

They also have their eyes firmly set on the market the business market dominated by limo services. They have created a profile page for companies, a GetTaxi button to push that will bring a cab to your address if you are a participant (which is free), and you can view all of the ordered cabs in real time. 

On the driver side, they are provided a driver’s box. For roughly $4.70 per month (current London fees), drivers get a small appliance that sits on their windshield that connects to the GetTaxi service. As an incentive GetTaxi typically give a few free months of use. Benefits cited include:

·         Plug-and-play installation that is easy to use

·         A view of the closest fares

·         Gives drivers the location of the next fare and the ability to call the passenger

·         Passengers are notified when taxis arrive and can track them in real time so expectations can be set and met on both sides

In an interview upon completion of the financing round, CEO Shahar Waiser (Smirin) stated that:  “GetTaxi already handles calls every ten seconds during peak hours…GetTaxi's vision is to revolutionize taxi services so that everyone can have reliable service in less than a minute.” He added that: “In our business, which operates in the offline world, heavy investment is needed in operations for support, sales staff, and so on. The cost of launching the service in a big city, such as the one planned for New York, is $5-7 million." Waiser also noted that free wireless networks would soon be installed in cabs together with credit card payment systems.

How big is the opportunity?

The short answer to the above question is, VERY BIG! Globally this is a $30 billion a year business. In Europe for example there are 600,000 taxis and most of them are independent operators who pay $5,000 per year for dispatch service. GetTaxi’s vision is to eliminate the dispatcher. In New York there are over 13,000 of the familiar yellow cabs, which are regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limosine Commission (TLC) and are the only ones which can be hailed on the street. These are clear targets of opportunity as are the roughly 40,000 other for-hire vehicles in the city. It is one of the reasons why GetTaxi covets the possibility of getting named the official taxi app by the TLC in a competition that is fierce to say the least.

The funding

Serial entrepreneur Shahar Smirin , is also busy building Vigoda.ru, a daily deal site in Russia which is growing 100 percent every three months according to him and is doing about $50 million in revenues and offering about 500 deals per week. Len Blavatnik led this latest round through Access Industries Ltd., and was joined CEO Shahar Waiser (Smirin) and GetTaxi co-founder Roi Mor. The company has so far raised over $30 million and has over 100 employees. 

As a New Yorker, I can’t wait for GetTaxi to arrive. Hailing made electronic is a wonderful addition to our scene. Ask any New Yorker who had been unable to get a cab during bad weather or after theater. I am downloading the app on the off chance I get to go to London or Tel Aviv soon. Hail! Hail!

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