It seems we’re coming to that awkward stage in development where a whole bunch of little things are popping up that seem important but, unless we’re careful, would over complicate the system…. Read more…
Pricing Zone Example
First, thanks to all those who’ve signed up and have been testing the system! The feedback provided has been invaluable and it’s helping us shape the future of the Taximap service – making it better for everyone!
The main request we’ve been receiving is for a means to provide variable pricing beyond the fixed price per mile model on which Taximap is founded. We’ve been listening and today we’ve updated the system with a new feature: Pricing Zones. Read more…
Since beginning to accept registrations and create accounts for taxi companies we have received some feedback. Through this it has become apparent we need to more accurately identify the purpose that TaxiMap serves, the benefits it provides, and how this complements other processes and systems.
We have always been aware that most mini-cab firms use a fixed price matrix to calculate prices for taxi journeys; i.e. Putney to Fulham is £3, Putney to Hammersmith is £5, Fulham to Hammersmith is £3, etc…. And these prices are not always linear. It is important to understand Taximap does not adhere to this model. Read more…
…(almost)
Developing taximap.co.uk primarily at night and weekends has required a fairly rigid work ethic. My aim has been to complete one update per session from my development list. At the moment our main goal is to produce a useable taxi booking and price estimate system so mini cab companies can start to test the site and, I’m pleased to announce, we’re pretty much there!
As it stands the process works like this: Read more…
Taxi map is a web service providing a fast, easy to use means for minicab companies to add taxi fare estimates and online cab booking to their websites. I am the lead developer for the project and I’d like to welcome you to our blog. I hope that over the coming months this blog will turn in to a detailed insight into the innovation behind Taximap and, as a bonus, documents its benefits and features.
A little background… (The origins of Taximap)
Some time ago a bunch of us started to play with the Google Maps API. It seemed pretty cool and we started to integrate it with websites we were building. At first simply as a means of providing a map on a customer’s contact page, but over time its endless flexibility and functionality captured the imagination of one or two people here at the office.
More as a proof of concept than anything else, we began to build a site that could use Google Maps to estimate the price of a cab journey based on a price per mile – the idea borne from the constant question posed to our local cab companies as to the cost of a journey. In speaking to a number of taxi cab operators we determined that the main means of providing estimate prices for these firms was a chart making a rough correlation from A to B, though the taxi driver would often use the cab’s odometer at the end of the journey calculate the price. So we started on this project….
So far we have a highly accurate geocoding implementation that allows users to enter a UK postcode, a UK address, or select a major UK airport as one of up to 20 steps in a journey; we have built a back end that allows taxi companies to log in and enter pricing, and provided a booking page that submits the Google Map info back to the cab company. And we’ve even tested it on the Apple iPhone: A handy bonus if you’re rolling out of a club late at night and need to beat the taxi queue! Even with all this out of the way, there seems to be a never ending list of tasks outstanding as we all come up with ways to improve the system.
So, we have come to the stage where we want to take the site live before we go any further…. to bring it beyond ‘proof of concept’ stage. To do this we need both cab companies and users. Here, dear reader, is where you come in. We’d invite you to have a look at the site as it is and leave us some feedback via the contact form or post a comment here? We hope to keep new functions and features up to date here in this blog so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading. See you soon!
Loading ...