With the economy as turbulent as it is, most people are trying to save a few bucks whatever way they can. CabEasy, a 1-man startup that launched earlier this month, is looking to help people save some cash on their Taxi rides. The site allows people to post a public listing of their upcoming taxi travel plans, and pair up with someone else who is traveling a similar route to split the ride.
The concept is very similar to Hitchsters, a startup that helps pair up travelers so that they can share a limo on the way to the airport for a fraction of the cost they would normally pay. Hitchsters has plans to expand beyond airport travelers (including events like ball games), but at this point these options aren’t available. And, unlike CabEasy, Hitchsters only offers support for a few cities.
CabEasy has more flexibility, but the site is clearly still in its infancy, and lacks the functionality that would make it useful for a large audience. For one, there isn’t an easy way to search for upcoming trips within a certain radius – you’ll need to look on the map and check for yourself (this works fine now, but if CabEasy ever establishes a sizable user base it would get confusing). I also question how often this will come in handy – most people rarely plan out their cab trips in advance unless they’re going to catch a flight. If CabEasy gets big enough that it’s always easy to find a match, then it would be a great service. But until then, most people probably won’t invest the time needed to check out the site if there’s only a small chance it will be of any use.
Great idea! I hope it gets traction.
Love the idea! hope it gets very popular.
is this a y-combinator incubated company? I’ve started to notice more and more of Techcrunch’s reviewed sites having the vertical ‘feedback button’ on their main page.
I don’t know the answer to your question but it is a standard UserVoice.com widget.
@bobby_d Thanks for your comment, I’m not a Y-Combinator company, but the UserVoice widget answers well to my needs
I think the reviewer is missing the point:I wld have thought many people who want to share rides are exactly the ones who plan their trips in advance. And what about people who make regular trips to the same place each week, maybe for hospital appts etc Great idea. Environmentally conscious too. Hope it gets business from all the trips over the Holidays …
this has awesome potential, especially in high-density, cab-crazy neighborhoods like N.Y. or Tokyo. Already, you can see the improvements that can be added. I would love to work on something like this.
not in Canada you don’t!
Since CabEasy uses cabs as opposed to personal vehicles, I’ll assume you can use it frequently in Canada without being fined. (Someone add that link.)
I bet taxi cab drivers wouldn’t be happy about this if this ever took off and people started sharing rides more often… They’d lose a lot of money!
This has a great potential for rides that originate TO or FROM major metro airports. It may be a little hard to use and synchronize for local city transportation, say from a subway to your office, but suburban areas where cab rides are usually more expensive than in the city will be good targets.
great idea i actually have a couple of improvement ideas to make it work, but as Paul cabi wont like it, it takes business from them
Arabcrunch, I’m all ears ?
Carticipate is an iPhone rideshare app that already has been out for over a month and can also be used for car or taxi trips across town. Its available in 62 countries and launched out of beta in October.
We gave a talk on carticipation at the Silicon Valley iPhone Developers’ Meetup in Palo Alto last week and posted the video here (select “high quality” mode):
http://www.yout...h?v=kaphdB6Wafs
I like the idea but I think not many ‘normal’ people would want to share a taxi ride with a stranger. Also if someone wanted to use a taxi for an hour which could cost a hundred bucks or two I’m sure they would be the type of person to not really worry too much about the cost.
I think this is a great idea. I went to NY a month ago and planned to take a cab until I found out it was $45 for a one-way trip. I would have loved to split it up with someone who was already going, but I didn’t want to be creepy and talk to strange people. Hope it gets traction!
this would be an interesting add-on to travel sites like orbitz or expedia. instead of booking a rental car or limo service you could search for someone to share a cab with.
Your sensibility is right, it’s unsure this site will be used often and yet get airtime on TC, so the criteria to get on TC is whether it tickles your fancy?
Another prototype in the similar direction.. but it is for any kind of travel and event plans
Another prototype for connecting people in train, flight, bus, cars or for any other events.
http://www.saathchalo.com
cool idea
I think this is a great idea. I went to NY a month ago and planned to take a cab until I found out it was $45 for a one-way trip. I would have loved to split it up with someone who was already going, but I didn’t want to be creepy and talk to strange people. Hope it gets traction!