Green Cab company is using an iPads as dispatchers for its 21-car fleet in Madison, Wisconsin.
These cabs have a custom-designed iPad app called Green Light from Promet Source. The app, website and the necessary back-end systems manages most of the duties usually handled by a dispatcher, two-way radio and meter.
“When we decided to do the cabs, we looked at dispatch software and units that are out there in the traditional taxi world – big, old two-way radios,” Jodie Schmidt, Green Cab’s operations manager said in a detailed piece in Wireless Week. “So we started throwing around a couple of ideas, and decided to use a smart piece of equipment for a lot less money than a $2,000 piece of equipment that only has one use.”
The drivers use the iPad app to tell the central system when customers are picked up and dropped off. Instead of a meter, Green Cab uses a zone-based system that allows customers to check ahead of time to see how much their ride will cost.
It also handles payments through Square and ROAMpay; communicates with drivers through Skype; and uses Google Maps for real-time location data. Drivers can also upload their iTunes libraries to the cars.
If it proves popular, Promet CEO Andrew Kucharski says they will license the app out to other companies, including delivery services and other taxi businesses.
Via Wireless Week
