Share. Get There.
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Challenge
taxi² (www.taxi.to) enables people to recognise other travellers who are interested in saving half the cost of their taxi ride from the airport to their final destination. The waste and extra conjestion that results from everybody taking individual taxis is substantial, and of course travellers can save around half the cost of a taxi by sharing the ride.
Solution
The taxi² team, led by Ed Maklouf, identified the key reasons why people don´t share taxis and focused the process design on those factors. "We quickly realised that the design had to address the pain and social embarrassment involved in approaching and asking people if they want to share a taxi." All the logistical challenges of connecting people on the basis of where they are going had to be addressed as well, but the key process to incubate was one of strangers meeting and agreeing to collaborate in this simple way.
Results
www.taxi.to and "the clever ticket".
Passengers simply enter their flight details and their desired destination address. taxi² then generates a clever ticket which provides the user with everything needed to share a taxi: an easy way to find someone to share with, maps to compare your destinations, instructions to your driver, and easy ways to fairly split the cost. The resulting design innovation: a ticket which is simply folded up so that it functions as a signal, may seem lo-tech, but it solves the problem efficiently and effectively. Backing up this basic service, the capability to match with other travellers on the basis of when and where they are travelling is provided.
Target Markets
The taxi² service just launched with Virgin Atlantic Airways as a partner in November 2009. The results of the trial (on all VA routes) will be published here and on the www.taxi.to website.
Next Steps: Freestyle Collaboration Facilitator
The next stage of development is the mobile device version which will provide all the features of the clever ticket on your phone. The problem solved (everyone taking individual taxis) occurs in many other environments beyond airports: conferences, stadiums, train stations etc. habitually yield concentrations of people queueing for taxis which will take them on similar journey pathways. There are also many other situations in which people can get better value for their money by paying for some service or product together. taxi² will expand its services to address these situations in the near future, aiming to provide a flexible platform for people to collaborate without having to share personal information or worry about how to set up or negotiate the meeting or agreement.
Specific Interests In Meeting Partnering
Low cost travel (airport taxi represents 20%+ of total travel cost in many cases). Airport operators. Crowded Events (Sports Stadiums, Conferences, Commuters). Sponsors (the signals are mini-advertising billboards displayed in crowded places).