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Using GPS to Hail Cabs
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."
They're using GSM-based location-services that many cellphone-providers across europe are starting to provide. GSM is the european standard for digital cellphones, and you can't get an exact position, only tell which base station the caller is connected to. Therefore you can find people in the same area by matching which base-station sees which users.
Harald
It's been decades since the London fog was so bad that you would need GPS to flag down a cab. They can see you on the streets. You're the tourist dressed wearing the Princess Di T-shirt with an overpriced camera around your neck jumping and waving frantically.
A GPS signal might help them find you when you can't tell them where you are, which, for most non-Londoners (and many residents), is quite common, but it ain't about to replace flagging down the cab that you can see driving down the street.
You really should remember that before you push the call button, that you have your Hitchhiker's Guide with you! And keep in mind that you can't find Babelfish just anywhere...
Whew! This water sure is cold!
ahhh yes...good to see that technology is enabling us to take every bit of exercise out of our lives :)
All you need now is a Segway to haul your ass to the cab you didn't have to wave your arm to hail!
Grand Theft Auto III, anyone? :)
http://dtum.livejournal.com
Black Cabs (Taxis) are allowed to pick up passengers anywhere, i.e be flagged down. They have to pay a fair bit for the licence which allows them to do this. Mini Cabs (Private Hire) have to be booked and must pick you up from a pre-arranged location. AFAIK, there is no reason that you cannot book a Black Cab, though perhaps the hotel staff gets a better backhander from the mini cabs.
Reginald Molehusband. Edinburgh, Scotland
Every Londener knows that trhe worlds most efficient intelligence network is the london taxi drivers. they all have what is known as "The knowledge". This sinister sounding piece of mental conditioning is actually a requirement before the driver gets a taxi licence.
Now we're giving this sinister shady organisation access to more technology to control our lives. Not only do they aspire to contain all knowledge, but they also want to knwo where each and every one of us is at any time.
Fortunately we have resistance. The London Underground is fighting against these evil beings. The LU provides a service that prevents mobiles from being used in this way.
I'm all for utilizing technology to simplify and improve our quality of life, but come on. Walk your ass out to the curb and raise your arm over your head. If you rather spend 10 minutes fucking around with your GPS just so you can find the 2 cabbies who are geeky enough to use it, have fun. More power to you. But as far as I'm concerned, it's the equivalent of coding 10,000 lines just to produce "Hello, World".
Just keep me posted when the hookers start using this technology - then you'll see some jumping up and down and arm flailing on my part.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
This is a result of a set of truely great rules about London Cabs that have evolved over centuries called the Hackney Carriage Rules.
To be a Licensed London Black Cab the vehicle needs to be able to do some extreme things that a normal car can't do - such as do a U-turn in about a 20-foot circle. That is why all the 'Black' Cabs in London are not based on normal cars. Black Cab drivers also need to pass 'The Knowledge'
Minicabs are a relatively recent invention (70's I think) which are NOT allowed to be hailed on the street, have much simpler vehicle rules and the drivers don't have to do 'the knowledge'. Minicabs (legal) can often be pretty grotty. Often you get unlicensed (illegal) minicabs hanging outside pubs and clubs - these can be even more dodgy.
'The knowledge' is the about 2 years full-time work needed to know all the required addresses and routes in London. You cannot drive a London Black Cab without doing this. Becoming a Black Cab driver in London is therefore a pretty serious long term commitment.
No it's the company's management trying to figure out a way to eliminate cabbies. Think about it, if they don't have to loiter waiting for a fare, and instead are directed from point to point by central dispatching, you can theoretically do the same work with fewer cabs.
Not only that, but cabs are drawn to people of credit sufficient to be carrying mobile phones.
Except of course:
- They are already making money hand over fist
- They DON'T pay the cabbies when they aren't collecting fares
- From what I understand, the cabbies pay for fuel
- Mobile phones are so cheap they are practically giving them away with breakfast cereal.
So my theory doesn't make sense from a business standpoint. But what a great conspiracy though..."Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
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.
This will be great if it comes to the states. I'd love to see the drunken rabble at around 2AM in major cities trying to figure out how to operate these things when they can barely figure out how to operate their arms at that time.
I try to make everyone's day a little more surreal.
...is if GPS then tracks the cab to ensure American tourists aren't taken from Heathrow to central London via Slough.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
In London, only the licensed black cabs are permitted to to pick up passengers who hail them on the street. But there are also armies of more-or-less-dodgy minicab operators who work on the basis that the car is pre-ordered, by the customer calling the minicab company's office, who dispatch a car to you by radio.
This new system sounds like it would be ideal for the minicab operators, because a punter calling in and using this service is in effect ordering the car as opposed to hailing it on the street, yet the turnaround time should be a lot quicker.
The black cab drivers are going to hate this...
....cab drivers hail you!
And I'm not kidding either. The streets of Manhattan are so thick with yellow cabs that it rarely takes more than a wink or a nod for them to pull over.
It's gotten to the point where cabbies will see me walking out of my building a block away, honk their horn a few times to get my attention, and then I can respond with - literally - a tilt of the head or a slight shake and they're off.
So in NYC, this isn't going to do much good most of the time.
HOWEVER -- there are those insane times (i.e. shift changes, rain, randomly) when there are no cabbies anywhere. Perhaps then?
Ferrari and other exotic car rentals in New York
Zingo uses mobile technology to put passengers directly in contact with black cab drivers in their area that are free for a fare.
I've heard of affirmative action, but this is ridiculous!
The coolest voice ever.
Is this really a problem? I've never been to London, but any city I have been to, the cabs were almost frantic to pull over and let you in. In New York, I've had cabbies pull over and ask if I wanted a ride when I was just standing there.
You need to know about "cabs" in London. First there are two kinds, proper cabs, or "black cabs" as they are often called (actually hackney carriages but I digress). Currently these require a specifically authorised vehicle with disabled access, insurance, regular maintenance, etc, etc and above all else a licensed driver who has passed "The Knowledge" by which they should be able to know any street within a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross. Yes, and that is pretty much actually true, get in the back, give an address and they will be able to get you there without referring to a map (it's pretty incredible), for this you pay a premium price.
Then there is mini-cab scum, which can basically be a bloke and a car, and that's about it, you negotiate price with varying rates of success based on time of day, distance, number of passengers, liklehood of one of the passengers despoiling the vehicle and blood alcohol level of both driver and passenger. There is virtually no regulation of this service. Very scaryIn between these two are more reputable mini-cab firms, not the knowledge of the black cabs but not quite so dodgy as the bloke on the street, but here to there is a lack of regulation and a sliding scale of reliability and competence from just above dodgy to as good as a black cab but without passing the knowledge (for a variety of reasons, some not so good).
I have cabbed it all over the world from the grease covered toyota's of Jakarta, to hailing some guy with his groceries and wife and kids in a Lada in Moscow, to cabs of varying kinds in London. Black Cabs for all their faults offer the best service in the world (and much comedy value if one gets the right cabbie who would like to share with you his view on the current state of the world).
"The first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging."
Mobile Phone operator Singtel in Singapore has implemented a range of location based services since last year.
:
One of the services is to get a cab. The landmarks are locations close to your current position (in most cases within a 100m)
"You will receive a SMS listing the landmarks near your location for your pickup location. Select your preferred pickup location and confirm your booking. You will receive a SMS indicating the taxi number and estimated arrival time once the booking is successful."
Another good feature is busses. You can type your destination, and it will direct you to the nearest busstop, and give you the busnumbers and transit locations. Unfortunately they have implemented this for only one of the three main busoperators. Still it is a good start.
Many African Americans get left behind by cabbies avoiding "any black male" in certain parts of the city... By using this system, a caller would be able to signify whether they were actually *picked up* by their cab, and possibly assist in reprimanding cabbies that aren't doing their job... or pointing out (publically/online) which companies don't provide the necessary level of service. (By having a proxy website dispatch the calls)
meh