A 19-year-old Sydneysider has become the latest in a string of local developers to build an app to shake up the taxi industry. What makes this young entrepreneur different is he’s going after the giants of the taxi business – including Cabcharge.
Zac Altman is positioning his Taxi Pro booking application as a serious competitor to multinational businesses in taxi industry, including Cabcharge.
His application allows users to book taxis through multiple networks, including Taxis Combined, Premier Cabs and Legion Cabs, and has attracted 40,000 users already – just through word of mouth.
“Taxi Pro allows users to book taxis, plain and simple. Users don’t need excess features like a taxi whistle or data-heavy maps. They just want to get a taxi and that’s what I care about,” Altman said.
Altman said a number of other start-ups are trying to making booking a taxi easier by competing with the networks, which requires a complicated relationship between the taxi driver and the app – meaning they often fail to deliver. His app directly connects with networks to give users a reliable booking experience, while giving taxi companies enough control to fulfill bookings.
“You can buy users with advertising but to keep them, you need to provide a great experience. Users keep coming back to Taxi Pro because I provide the best experience,” he added.
Released in December last year, Altman’s app placed second in Optus’ Unleash Your App competition and he’s already fielded offers for the sale of the app.
Purchase offers have been declined so far, with Altman preferring to continue building the app’s capabilities and user numbers. At present, Taxi Pro can be used by consumers in Sydney and Adelaide, with access to networks in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to arrive in the coming months.
The app can be downloaded from the Apple App store and on the Android Market.
