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Using GPS to Hail Cabs

Posted by michael on from the almost-as-good-as-having-a-flying-car dept.

The Benefactor writes "The guys at The Register are running a story about using mobile phones to hail cabs in London. Using GPS technology to locate the nearest available cab and to direct it to where you call from this should make frantic arm waving to get their attention a thing of the past."

7 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Black cabs and minicabs by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is something I could never figure out in London. When I asked the concierge at the hotel to call me a cab, he/she either called a so-called minicab (usually something looking sleazy and semi-legal; never having any real meter) or informed me, that the black cabs are "just around the corner" and calling them by phone is "not possible". Tried it in many hotels, going to many destinations. I wonder what they will say now: "do you have your GPS with you, sir?"

    1. Re:Black cabs and minicabs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You definitely can book London Black Cabs but you will often have to pay by credit card and pay a call out fee. This story is about a Black Cab company that offers this service. The probable reason that the doorman didn't want to call a black cab was the extra cost / hassle of credit card booking when you were almost certain to be able to hail one round the corner.

  2. Of course that's not the problem... by dreadpiratemark · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Of course that's not the real problem. At least here in DC, I play a constant game of hopping in and out of cabs until I find a driver willing to take me to my neighborhood. It's not tough at all to hail a cab while you're downtown, the problem is finding a driver who is willing to take you to a neighborhood that he considers dangerous (or at least unlikely to result in a return fare). You can get that cab downtown/in the tourist areas real easy - but just watch how fast he'll work to get you out of his cab if it turns out he doesn't want to drive where you've asked him to take you. What we could really use is a system that not only tells a driver where you are but lets him know in advance where you'd like to go. Then I wouldn't have to spend a half-hour boucing in and out of cabs until I find a driver willing to take me home.

  3. Re:At my bus stop... by rkz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    got this in leicester too: http://www.star-trak.co.uk/select.htm it works but is a bit inaccurate. You can even send a sms to a special number and it will tell you what bus will be coming to you stop and how long it will take.

    --
    There is no god
  4. GPS in many US cell phones by asmithmd1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The FCC has mandated that all cell phone operatores be able to locate an emergency caller by the end of '06. So far Sprint and Nextel have put GPS chipsets in their phones, but only Nextel gives the JVM running on the phone access to the location data. If you have a Motorola i88s or i58s you can download a midlet that will track your cell phone and update a web page with your location

    --
    Free cell phone tracking
  5. Has anyone considered by CDOS_CDOS+run · · Score: 1, Interesting

    GPS is a great technology, but it's inaccurate at best. What happens when the cab shows up a block from the lazy person who hailed it. This is almost as dumb as the headline I read today about using GPS technoligy in shopping carts. Imagine trying to find carrots and ending up 7 aisles away in condoms?

  6. Perspective of an (ex) cabbie by drsmithy · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I spent about 3 years driving cabs while I was going through Uni and even back then there was rudimentary usage of GPS to locate the nearest cab to a caller. It's probably somewhat more advanced now, but the problem is being fair to the cabbie as well as the customers. Grabbing the nearest cab the customer might be better for them, but if there's some driver who hasn't had a job for half an hour only an extra block away they probably deserve it more.

    Our system used to work like this (Black & White Cabs in Brisbane, AU):
    The area covered is divided up into "zones". Each zone has one "designated" rank in it (although there may be numerous actual ranks).
    When you enter a "zone", you "book into" it via the computer in the cab. This puts you into a queue. Any jobs that come in over the radio that are determined to be originating from that zone will be handed off the cabs in the queue, FIFO.
    If you are actually in the designated rank in a zone, you can book into the "rank zone". This gives you preference in the zone queue (ie: everyone in the "rank zone" will be serviced before anyone else in the zone queue, even if someone in the latter has been waiting longer). You *have* to be parked in the rank to be allowed to book into the "rank zone" and if you aren't you will probably be dobbed in by everyone else on it.
    If there's no-one booked into the zone where a job originates, the computer will search all surrounding zones for someone booked into one of them. If there's still no car found, it will use the GPS system to locate the nearest vehicle (it's actually a touch more complicated, but this is a rough summary).
    Thus, the GPS really only becomes a factor when you are *way* out in the sticks, because anywhere remotely busy will always have at least one cab booked into it.
    The only other things the GPS is used for is making sure cabs can't book into zones they aren't actually in (or close to) and locating vehicles in the case of emergency.

    This system seems to me to be a fair way of balancing the customer's right to quick service and cabbies' right to be able to consistently earn a reasonable income. Speaking from the perspective of an ex-driver, I don't think I like the idea of a job always going to the physically closest vehicle. I can see it starting a *lot* of arguments.