Taxi Booking App Development: Key Features & Cost

Introduction

The idea that you can get anything and everything you need just by a few clicks and swipes at your mobile phone was utopian even a decade back. But today, technology has reached a level where you can order whatever you want using mobile apps – be it a pair of socks or a giant smart TV. The mobile app development industry has been growing rapidly over the years due to the expansion of digitalisation and the growth of smartphone users.

One such area where the mobile app industry has tapped into is taxi booking services. The process of booking a taxi for your commute has been made extremely easy and convenient by these taxi booking apps – which have shaped the way people go about planning their journey.

Today, travellers do not have to wait long for vacant cabs to arrive to catch a taxi. Today, travellers do not need to get in crowded public transport vehicles, such as buses or metros, to move from one place to another. Getting a cab to your desired destination today is just one tap away – thanks to taxi booking apps such as Uber, and Ola.

This is a big industry with wide scopes and if you want to create a taxi booking app of your own, then we can assure you that this is a sustainable industry given you can provide real value to your users. So without further ado, let us take a look at how to develop your taxi booking mobile app.

Types of Taxi Booking Apps

When you are building a taxi booking app, what you have to understand first is what kind of taxi service you are going to provide. This determines the kind of taxi booking app you will need for your business. There are two different types of taxi booking apps depending on two different types of business models –

• Dedicated taxi booking app
• Taxi aggregator app

1. Dedicated Taxi Booking App

If you have a taxi service business, then what you will need for your business is a dedicated taxi booking app. You would need a fleet of taxis and drivers for this kind of app to work. A dedicated taxi booking app is a means for taxi businesses to enter the online world. Passengers can directly book a taxi from your business with this kind of apps, without any intervention from a middleman. The process is simple – your users put in their pick-up location and drop location in your app, and you will have to dispatch a cab for their commute.

2.  Taxi Aggregator App

A taxi aggregator app serves as a middleman between taxi owners and passengers. These apps provide them with a platform where taxi owners can register their cabs to offer their service, and passengers can book cabs for their trips. This is the business model popularised by Uber and Ola. Now even taxi aggregator apps can be of two types –

• Simple taxi booking apps: These apps do not need a server or separate interfaces for drivers and passengers. On these apps, drivers can register their vehicles and give their details and then passengers can directly contact the drivers through the app asking for their service.
• On-demand taxi booking apps: These apps require a server and separate interfaces for drivers and passengers. These apps include multiple advanced features and thus require more time and money to develop. Uber and Ola are prime examples of on-demand taxi aggregator apps.

Advantages of On-Demand Taxi Booking Apps

Taxi booking apps have solved multiple problems for both drivers and passengers – which made them extremely relevant in the transport industry. The apps provide value for both groups of people and this is why creating your on-demand taxi booking app is a wise idea for your business.

Benefits for drivers

Taxi booking apps have made it easy for cab drivers to find passengers. Today, they do not have to roam around the city to get riders. This saves them both time and fuel and is a huge benefit in today’s fast economy. With advanced features like GPS and location tracking, drivers can easily find the location of the riders as well as the easiest route to their destination. On top of that, the inclusion of multiple payment options has eased the process of payments, and drivers do not have to carry a large amount of changes anymore.

Benefits for passengers

Along with the drivers, the passengers have benefitted from taxi booking apps as well. Now, they do not have to wait for an empty cab to arrive and pick their ride. They can book a cab to their desired destination from anywhere and everywhere. The app also notifies the riders about the fee and how long they will need to wait to get their cab. Riders can either continue or cancel their booking depending on these factors and find another cab instead with just a few clicks. Another benefit that the passengers enjoy is that if they are not carrying enough cash, they can still book a cab and pay for their ride using their debit or credit card or other online payment methods.

How to Monetise Your Taxi Booking App?

There are multiple ways to generate revenue from your taxi booking app. You can choose all the possible methods as you see fit to generate money for your business.

• Commission charges from passengers
• Enrolment/service charge from drivers
• In-app advertisements

Commission Charged From Passengers

You can charge a certain percentage of the total booking fee that the passengers will have to pay for their ride. You can either deduct it directly when a payment is made online. If the passenger pays in cash, you can collect your percentage from the drivers at a fixed date of the month.

Enrolment / Service Charge From Drivers

You can also charge a certain amount of money from taxi drivers when they register their vehicles on your app. However, levying a high fee on the taxi drivers might cause a lack of interest in drivers to register on your app.

In-App Advertisements

You can offer digital space within your app for third-party promotions and in-app advertisements to raise more funds.

Features That You Must Include in Your Taxi Booking App

For on-demand taxi booking apps, multiple features for drivers, and passengers, and an admin panel make your app more convenient to use. You must include the following features to make your app work properly –

Features for Passengers

For your taxi booking app, the following features are a must to provide your passengers with –

• Sign up / user registration: The first thing that passengers need to do is to be able to sign up for your app. Allow your users to sign up using their social media profiles which makes it more convenient for them to use your app.
• On-demand taxi booking: This is the feature that allows your users to drop in their pick-up and drop location and book a cab for their ride. If the passenger is using GPS, then he might not even need to enter the pickup location as his GPS will confirm his location automatically.
• Estimated time and fare: Show your users how long they will need to wait for their cab to arrive and the entire cost of their trip.
• Vehicle tracking: Through this feature, passengers can check how far their vehicle is from the pickup point. Along with this, they can also check if the vehicle is on the correct route to their destination which ensures a safe journey.
• Payment options: Allow your users to pay for their trip using both cash and online payment methods. You can also have your in-app credits or currency for payments and discounts.
• Rating option: This feature allows your users to rate their experience and review the driver and other passengers can refer to these ratings and reviews for their reference as well.
• Booking history: Allow your users to quickly book a cab for a route they have already travelled by giving them a booking history section. With this feature, users can check their booking history and book a cab for the same route again.
• Push notifications & SMS alerts: Users must be notified when their booking is confirmed or trip is completed or payment is confirmed. Your app should be able to send push notifications and SMS alerts to confirm these details.

Features For Drivers

For the drivers on your app, the following features can be extremely helpful –

• Update Availability: When a driver is idle, they can mark their availability in your app so that they can accept the following bookings.
• Accept/deny passenger booking requests: When the driver receives a booking request from a passenger, they need to be able to accept or deny the request after checking the details of the trip.
• In-app calling and messaging: Once a ride is booked, the driver needs to be able to communicate with the passenger whenever necessary. The in-app calling and messaging feature helps establish communication between both parties. Although we are listing it under the features for drivers, this is a feature that passengers will need as well.
• View passenger location and routes: Drivers need to be able to locate the exact location of their passengers for pick up, and you also need to help them with a navigating map for funding the best route for the trip.
• Rate the passengers: Even drivers should be able to rate their passengers depending on how they behave during the trip. This helps other drivers to know whether or not they are picking a problematic person for the ride.
• Push notifications: Whenever a passenger requests a booking, all available drivers in the range must receive a notification stating the same. They also need to be notified when the payment by the passenger is processed and accepted.

Features in The Admin panel

For the business end, you need some top-notch features to keep your app running.

• Manage drivers: To accept driver registrations, manage their availability, and track their reviews, the admin will need this feature. This also acts as a huge database for all the drivers that are enlisted in your app.
• View/manage trip routes: Check for all the routes where your drivers are driving and this can help in narrowing down the prime location for your business. You can then make significant improvements and changes to do better in areas where you are not performing accordingly.
• Manage rates: Determine how much will you charge for a trip from your passengers depending on several factors. These factors include distance, time of the day, traffic and so on.
• Track cabs: This feature helps you track all your cabs that are active then. This can ensure the security and reliability of your app.
• Manage driver reviews: Check the reviews for your drivers and do the needful depending on the kind of response they are getting from your passengers.

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Tech Stack Required To Develop Taxi Booking App

You will need the following tech stack to start your taxi-booking app –

• Google Maps
• Swift
• Java
• PostgreSQL
• Jersey
• Twilio
• AWS
• VISA
• Payfort
• PayPal
• Orange Money
• Paystack
• MTN
• Stripe
• Android Studio
• Redis
• S3
• Braintree
• net
• RDS

Steps of Taxi Booking App Development

Strivemindz understands your business needs and will help you in developing your taxi booking app from scratch. For your project, you need the best experience and expertise and Strivemindz will ensure that you get the best team to execute your project. The team you will get for developing your taxi booking app will have –

• UX / UI designers
• Android / iOS developers
• Back-end developers
• Quality assurance manager
• Project manager

Your project will go through the following steps before you receive a fully functional taxi booking app for your business –

• Plan your business and understand your target market
• Design the user interface
• Start the development process
• Test the beta version
• Fix any glitches and errors and launch the final product
• Maintenance

How Much Will It Cost To Develop Your Taxi Booking App in 2022?

Having your taxi booking app can be costly, and while it is hard to give exact numbers, we can try to show you the factors that will determine the ultimate cost that you have to bear.

• The features that you are adding to your app will determine your cost. More features will mean you have to pay more.
• You will also have to pay more if you choose to release your app on multiple platforms (Android / iOS).
• The region where you are launching your app also plays a part in determining the cost.

Strivemindz offers one of the best cost-effective mobile app development services that you can opt for to kick-start your project. Our estimation shows that the average cost of developing your taxi booking app can range from $30,000 to $40,000. However, it can come as high as $50,000 in some cases as well as can go as low as $20,000 on average.

Summing it up

With the rapid growth of the mobile app industry, it is now easier than ever to have your mobile taxi booking app developed quickly and start your journey. The field is wide and the market is lucrative. Strivemindz will be more than happy to take you on your dream trip as the owner of your taxi booking app. Contact us regarding your project now, and let us get the work going!