Cab Booking App Development – Cost & Features

Last Updated: 1st November, 2023

For the past few years, the cab booking industry has been bound on an upward trajectory of growth. The massive growth of online cab aggregators has seen many budding entrepreneurs looking for cab booking app development. To help such entrepreneurs, analysts at FATbit technologies spent countless hours analyzing the functionality and business model of the world’s most successful online cab aggregators. In this blog, you’ll learn about their business model and the essential features of a taxi app solution.

Table of Contents

• Top Players in Taxi Booking Industry
• Business Model For Cab Booking App
• Revenue Generation Model
• Key Features of Cab Booking Mobile App
• Some Focus Areas to Become Successful
• How Much Does it Cost to Build Taxi Booking Mobile app
• Build The Next Billion Dollar Cab Booking Company

Top Players in Taxi Booking Industry

• Uber
• Lyft
• Gett
• Flywheel
• Arro

The differentiation between your platform and other cab booking service can boil down to a few points:

• Your primary geographical area, governmental policies and the overall mindset of the target audience.
• Offer a wide array of booking methods like a mobile app, website, and phone call.
• Availability of payment options. While digital payments are becoming a norm, cash is still the preferred mode of payment in some places.

Business Model For Cab Booking App

Technological advancements have helped online ride-sharing platforms improve their efficiencies. Lesser wait times, live location tracking, and rating for the drivers make it easier for the customers to choose their rides transparently. The leaders in the online cab booking market such as Uber and Lyft have special algorithms that work as per their business model to connect ride seekers with ride providers.

To start a new online cab booking business it is important to have a business model that assists you in creating effective strategies for future operations and discovering new opportunities in the market.

The operational flow of an online cab booking business is elaborated in the business model graphic below:

Revenue Generation Model

Platforms like Uber and Lyft are basically cab aggregators that partner with private cab operators to provide rides on request. The revenue model of such platforms is based on pay-for-performance, and they charge a commission from cab operators on each ride they complete. In addition, they also charge a nominal fee from operators for offering access to their technology platforms.

Key Features of Cab Booking Mobile App

Basic App Functionality

The online taxi aggregator app needs to be highly intuitive and offers an impressive layout. All the features of the mobile app should be well defined and focus ought to be on immersive behavior. The overall interface should be specifically designed keeping in mind the targeted user base and ease of use.

User Guide

Upon launching the application for the first time, a user should be presented with a well-defined user-guide. The guide should cover every single aspect of the cab booking process, making it easy for new users to understand the app features and the action process. Whether you are building a cab booking mobile application or website, don’t forget to make provision for a UX rich user guide.

Effortless Signup Process

The basic design architecture of your application is to keep everything simple and user friendly. The same should hold true for the sign-up page. Before using the application, it is mandatory to have a registered account with the platform. The overall process should be minimalistic keeping in mind the mobile nature and require only the most critical information such as:

• Name
• Email
• Password
• Contact Number

User Centric Booking Process

After the completion of the registration process, the users should be taken to the main screen where they can easily pick a ride for themselves. Here are the most noticeable points in the cab booking process:

• Search bar to enter a desired pickup location.
• GPS feature to detect current location.
• A detailed map to see their selected location.

Location Saving Feature

Users should be able to select and save his/her favorite locations to make their accessibility easier. This is particularly useful in cases where a user seeks a ride to or from a location on a regular basis. Features related to frequently visited destinations and routes add up to app usability and make cab booking easy for riders.

Estimated Time of Arrival

As per services offered in the vicinity of the user, the application should show the options of choosing the cab along with their estimated time of arrival (ETA). This is a highly beneficial feature as the user is informed about the waiting time right at the time of booking a ride.

Booking Flexibility

After selecting the mode of transportation, user can choose between taking the ride right away or at a later time. This is useful for consumers who want to book a cab at a desired time, without undergoing the hassle of time-bound booking.

Cab Confirmation

If the user chooses to book a ride right away, then, they are shown a confirmation screen which also contains detailed information such as the rate card, car model and estimated arrival time. Users should be able to apply for valid discount/coupon codes, if any applicable.

Build a cab booking app with cab scheduling and confirmation related features.

Transparent Booking Process

One of the deciding factors that would make any online cab booking service a hit among users is the transparency in pricing.  All the information related to the fares should be made available to the user in a clear manner. Using the option of rate card, users can view the fare breakup with respect to their chosen ride.

Fare Precision

As discussed before, you need to ensure that consumers have all the relevant information beforehand related to the fare charges. The option available to the users in the form of “Ride Estimate” shows all the details related to the approximate time travel and the estimated cost to the user. Giving a clear idea of fare and pricing can help your cab app solution score additional points.

Advanced Booking

For users who want to book the ride for a later stage, a pop-up box can be shown, where they can select the date along with the desired time. This is beneficial in cases of rush-hour when users sometimes find it difficult to find a cab.

Ride Details

Once the booking is confirmed, users are able to see the current location of the cab and the estimated time of arrival. Other details available are:

• Name of the driver
• Color and make of the car
• Registration number of the cab
• Contact details of the driver

Users can also cancel the booked cab before the driver reaches the respective pickup point. This option can be used if there are any unavoidable changes in the users’ plan.

Ride Feedback

After reaching the destination, the user can be prompted with the screen showing the total cost and distance travelled. With the focus on user engagement, the platform should request the users to give their feedback on the ride experience. This not only rates the driver for future reference, but helps the company in discovering the level of customer satisfaction. Integrate driver rating and feedback feature in your online cab booking solution.

Distinguishing Features

Now that we are done with the standard features that are part of the booking process, let’s take a look at some of the features that make an app standout from the rest. Below are the features that can greatly help the cab booking company build brand identity in an otherwise competitive industry.

My Rides

This feature shows the detailed list of all the bookings undertaken, upcoming rides as well as completed rides. This helps in keeping track of all the rides booked by the user. While the completed section shows the history of rides taken, the upcoming section gives a preview of rides scheduled for the future.

Invite and Earn

Online cab booking services have gained huge momentum but the concept is still new to many users. In order to capture the overall market share, the platform can offer a referral program under which riders can invite their friends using a referral code and earn money. Users can send an invitation by SMS, email and also through social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Make sure your online taxi booking solution has this feature!

Rate Card

The platform needs to understand the market dynamics which calls for transparency in the overall functionality. This is the reason why it should offer a well detailed rate card to the consumers using which they can analyze the standard rates chargeable to them with respect to the destination as well as a mode of transportation.

Emergency Contact

In order to ensure safe and hassle-free rides, the platform should provide a security feature in their application where users can add contact details of any person. Moreover, the user can also opt in to share information with that emergency contact every time a ride is taken. This is one feature you must not miss in your cab booking solution.

We covered all the features in the above sections, and have to say that most of them are rather innovative. Additionally, our team of analysts and developers have discovered some areas that can help you in creating an advanced taxi booking solution. They’re as follows:

Emergency Button

You can offer an emergency button in the application which sends the ride details as well as current location to a predefined contact in case of emergency. This is a highly vital security feature and can boost user confidence.

FAQ Section

Online cab booking service is still not quite clear-cut to many people due to which users are full of queries. A comprehensive FAQ section covering common cab booking queries will help enhance rider experience.

Some Focus Areas to Become Successful

• Get a mobile Application. It is a key necessity for this industry.
• Look for Professional and skilled drivers. One bad driver can let your image down
• Before entering the market, build your taxi base so as to meet the demand.
• Ensure customer reach: Your taxi services should be available at maximum places in city.
• Minimum waiting time: Decrease the waiting time and earn more happy customers
• Multiple Payment Methods: User should be able to pay through online wallet and also by cash if they want.
• Online Documentation creation services can be a good add-on but need to be aware of every target market in detail because laws differ from place to place.

How Much Does it Cost to Build Taxi Booking Mobile app

The actual cost of developing taxi booking apps for your business depends upon the solutions you choose and the features your business requires You can either hire a development company to build apps from scratch or go for a ready-made whitelabel cab booking app for your cab hire business.

While hiring a development company to build custom apps can cost a lot of money and can be time-consuming (6-12 months on average), readymade white-label apps can easily cater to your business requirements as they come at easy rates and allow you to start business operations right off the bat.

The charges for custom development vary depending upon the country where the development company is based and the expertise level of the team of developers. The average development charges for some countries are:-

• India — $10-80 per hour
• North America — $60-250 per hour
• United Kingdom — $60-150 per hour
• Western Europe — $40-120 per hour
• Eastern Europe — $20-100 per hour

Contrary to this, a ready-made bundle of cab booking apps will cost you around $2000-$5000 for a lifetime license. One such solution is Vivocabs. It is a ready-made solution for entrepreneurs looking to start their online cab-booking business. The solution comes with apps for both Android and iOS operating systems with advanced functionalities to check available bikes for customers, connect to the riders, and make payments smoothly. It also comes with a convenient dashboard for the admin to manage all business operations. Above that, the apps can be fully customized with respect to design and features as per business requirements. The Vivocabs cab booking apps bundle price for both iOS and Android operating systems is $2000. To know how Vivocabs can help you manage your day-to-day, you can schedule a free demo.

Build The Next Billion Dollar Cab Booking Company

USA Ride Hailing segment amounts to US$49,598m in 2019 and expected to grow by 11.0%, resulting in a market volume of US$75,403m by 2023. The current User penetration is 20.1% in 2019 and expected to reach 28.8% by 2023

If you are planning to build a cab booking platform, then you cannot afford to miss out on the features highlighted in this blog. Make your prospects in cab booking arena brighter by incorporating new features in your app.

Discuss your taxi booking mobile application requirements with a top taxi booking app development company to launch a successful online taxi booking venture.