London Taxi iPhone App
New iPhone app takes traffic into account when calculating London taxi fares
Launched this week, the London Taxi iPhone app calculates in a few seconds the fare from one point to another in one of the city’s signature Black Cabs—taking into account both the time of day and projected traffic conditions.
Created by two recently laid-off Transport for London planners, the young entrepreneurs took their knowledge of London’s transport system and applied it to a much-needed technology after recognizing the gap in information about London taxis.
While other cities, such as Madrid and Hong Kong, have attempted the same type of application, co-author Steve Knox believes the London iPhone app offers greater accuracy by factoring traffic into the equation.
The duo’s Twitter account helps fix glitches and keep it up-to-date, also attracting the pioneering community of London cabbies that use Twitter to coordinate among themselves and break the stranglehold of the big dispatching firms.
Such collaborations, Knox says, leaves room for future projects including a share service that would match passenger to drivers to reduce wasted mileage.
The London Taxi application sells for $1 at the Apple store.
