How to Build a Taxi Booking App Like Uber or Lyft: A Complete Guide

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Introduction

In the past few years, the world of taxi booking apps has experienced a surge in demand, which is expected to rise exponentially in the future years. But what is causing this constant increase?

Well, according to the Flutter App Developers, the online taxi-booking business will never die since it provides several benefits to passengers and application users. Back in the year 2017, the taxi booking app market was valued at roughly $ 36,000 million, which is predicted to go up at a CAGR of 16.5 percent until 2025, reaching $ 126,521 million.

The data points towards the prospect in the field of on-demand taxi services. In other words, it can be said that with a functional app designed under the supervision of a Mobile App Development Company, even you can take your taxi business to a whole new level.

Most Successful Online Cab Booking (Uber & Lyft)

According to the data mentioned above, it is quite clear how successful Uber is currently. Right? Now let’s seek some detailed information about the two most successful online cab booking services:

• Uber: Easy Affordable Trips

The Uber app is available on both iOS and Android, providing top-notch on-demand taxi service in 445 cities and 70 countries across the globe. Its integrated payment services, along with cash payment options in the cities of India, the Philippines, and Kenya, makes it one of the trusted and widely demanded service

• Lyft: Become a Driver or Get a Ride

This app serves specifically in the United States in more than 200 cities. It is available in Android and iOS, allowing the users to split fares through the app itself, making the journey much more hassle-free and quick.

How Does A Ride-hailing Or Taxi Booking App Work?

The taxi booking apps work as a liaison between the user (rider) and the service provider (taxi driver). It operates like a marketplace where the users can book a trip while the service provider can generate revenue by simply dropping the customer to their desired destination.

The App follows five distinct steps:

• Users request a ride to the desired location, mentioning their present location to the affiliated nearby local driver over the app.
• The driver accepts or rejects the request according to their preference, based on which the users receive a confirmation.
• The user can track the cab location until the driver reaches the pick-up location.
• Once the user has reached his destination, the driver ends the journey and receives payment through digital methods or cash.
• Both the passenger as well as the driver are allowed to rate the experience. It is a vital factor for gaining the confidence and reliability of the riders and drivers.

Let’s Face The Facts By Stats.

Mobile App Development has outperformed the businesses related to cab and rental cars. A universal platform with an interactive interface brings together the riders and the drivers under the same roof. As a result, companies like Uber And Lyft have subsequently attained a significant threshold on the market.

If we cite the example of Uber, we will notice that this business model has risen by great strides in recent years. Its app is utilized in various nations across the world. It is because Who needs a car when they can make use of convenient and inexpensive taxi services?

Uber has risen to prominence in less than a decade, with a market capitalization of USD 72 billion. This is their market value on a worldwide scale. The graph given below will provide better insights:

 Source: Statistica, December 2018

The given statistics portray the significant growth of the company over the years. In the last quarter of the year, Uber has generated a gross booking worth USD 12 billion with 75 million active riders in almost 80 countries of the world.

The Core Functionality To Power Up Mobile Taxi Apps (For User & Driver)

A fully functional on-demand taxi app consists of three prime elements: the driver app, passenger app, and a dispatch web-based panel to manage the users, payments, and every ride. If you are planning to hire a Mobile App Development Service for developing a fully-functional taxi-hailing platform, make sure you integrate the following functionalities:

For User:

• Easy Login and Signup Options: To allow the users to quickly set up their account with phone number and verification code
• Passenger Profile: To enable the passenger to edit the personal information, update the credentials, and change the password
• Payment Gateway: Includes details of available payment methods- cash, credit, card, or even net banking to allow users to select their preferred payment options
• Push Notifications: To send notifications regarding the request confirmation, arrival of the driver, charges along with available offers and discounts

For Driver:

• Login and Signup: To allow the drivers to log in to the app using contact details, providing car registration information, and verifying bank account details.
• User Location Tracking: To define passenger location with Google Map API integration and built-in street navigation
• Matching: To allow the app to show details about the cars and driver reviews to the users and match the passengers with nearby drivers
• Trip: To allow your driver to track the passengers’ location, the status of the journey, and the estimated time of arrival

Also Read : How to Choose and Integrate Payment Gateway in a Mobile App?

What Are The Essential Tips For Creating Such An App?

Before signing up to create an app with the help of Flutter Mobile App Development, you must keep these essential tips in your mind:

• Look-out for the right taxi booking app developer: App development is not rocket science. To build an efficient application for your cab business, you must connect with experienced iOS and Android App Developers.
• Do not add extra or hidden costs: As a business owner, you must keep away even the slightest idea of adding hidden charges. If you want to add cancellation charges for canceling the ride within 5 minutes, be very clear about it. It will prevent waste of time and resources in case the customer abandons or extends the journey.
• Integrate the Driver Destination feature: Remember to create the option where drivers can efficiently entire the desired location and locate the travelers nearby who want to travel in the same direction. It is a fantastic strategy to attract more drivers to your business.
• Make a better investment in advanced route building features: If you plan to improve your ride-sharing business, you must consider route building technology. Better routes will make the drivers more effective, which in turn will increase customer loyalty.
• Add the feature of accepting new rides while still on an ongoing ride: If you can bring customers to your driver, they will increase your company’s revenue. Allowing them to accept another ride beforehand will save time and increase their efficiency.
• Add unique propositions: To create an impactful taxi booking service, you must ensure your app is competitive and rewarding for your users, adding a value proposition.
• Implement Go Green concepts: Americans are growing more environmentally conscious, and they are fascinated with pollution. In such circumstances, eco-friendly options, such as Green Cabs cabs, electric vehicles, are preferred. Also, the prospect of motorbikes can be an excellent alternative for high traffic.

What Is The Best Technology To Build An On-demand Taxi App Like Uber?

The most common question which nearly everyone asks: “Which technology is the best?” As per experienced professionals, Flutter application development is the apt choice for developing an on-demand taxi app like Uber.

Flutter is an open-source user interface software development kit that focuses on cross-platform coding. Google officially unveiled it in December 2018. The primary benefit of adopting Flutter for a taxi booking mobile app is that it produces results similar to a native app.

• Single Codebase to create cross-platform applications
• Upgraded User Interface to utilize the widget library for building a Cupertino and material design
• Cost-saving technology can help you cut down app development cost
• Flutter App Development uses a single code for both Android and iOS, reducing the testing time
• The platform allows the developers to visualize the issues and work on performance upgrade

How To Build A Taxi Booking App Like Uber Or Lyft?

Building a complicated app necessitates both server-side and client development. A highly efficient central server is designed to instantaneously maintain the communication between users (riders and drivers).

Step 1: Find your Niche: You must first determine your specialization for a taxi booking app. Developing an idea for your niche is critical, and it can be thought of as the foundation for developing a taxi booking app.

Step 2: Conduct Research & Audit:Closely analyze and collect required information about developing a fully functional on-demand taxi booking app with necessary enhancements.

Step 3: Prepare Documentation: Create a comprehensive strategy for the project specifications of app functionality, app design, and tech stack specifics.

Step 4: Start Development: Divide the project into parts, begin implementing each task in order of importance and do unit testing to discover flaws.

Step 5: Deploy your App: After screening and receiving a satisfactory report from the Quality assurance team, it is time to deploy your app to the real system to confirm that it works correctly on all platforms.

How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App Like Uber Or Lyft?

A good cab booking app nothing but a robust application which is compatible with all devices, irrespective of the platforms. From the start, the budget allotted to the app must be carefully monitored since exceeding the limit may result in losses and an incomplete application. As a result, you must be aware of the critical elements that influence app development expenses.

The cost depends on the following factors:

• The complexity of the application
• The platform utilized by the app
• Features you want to integrate
• Region of Development

Every country and city has different charges for Android App Development and iOS App Development. The average cost of developing an app like Uber and Lyft in the U. S. ranges between $150- $200 per hour, while it is significantly less in Europe, ranging between $40- $150 per hour.

How To Earn Revenue From Taxi Booking App Development?

Running an on-demand taxi booking business is not just about connecting with a flutter mobile application development company and developing an effective app. The most necessary element of being in any business is ‘generating money.

So, how can you do that using your app?

Driver Gets a Share of Each Ride Completed.

The taxi driver receives payment from the passenger for the cab service. The money received is split evenly between the operator and the driver. The commission charges may vary between 20% to 25%. Riders are also charged a set booking fee by Uber.

Earn Through Advertisement 

It is the most convenient measure to make a profit. You can run commercials for other organizations and earn revenue from each click on the advertising. In reality, promotional discounts are an excellent method to make money. Uber has acquired a lot of traction by promoting the content of other firms in exchange for money.

Also Read : How to Convert an Android App to iOS Or Vice Versa?

How MultiQoS Can Help You In Creating A Taxi Booking App?

Well, If you are looking forward to connecting with a trusted name to help you create a fully functional taxi booking app like Uber and Lyft, you must undoubtedly consider MultiQoS. Starting from Android to iOS and Flutter-based app development, we have the best team of app developers to walk you through this tedious process and come up with the best results.

What will you get through cooperation with us?

We strive to provide you with the most excellent advice and highlighted points for creating a taxi booking application. Be it app development guidance or wanting to outsource the project to an extraordinarily competent and experienced team of developers, we can help you with everything. We have the best Android, Flutter, and iOS App Developers for any form of app development and can assist you in developing your taxi booking app. You may also hire dedicated developers on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis.

Summing Up

You’ll need an out-of-the-box idea as well as excellent execution in the form of a user-friendly ride-hailing service interface. The more innovative and smart the features you present to customers, the more valuable your brand will become in the thoughts of the target consumers. You can connect with an experienced and reputed Flutter App Development Company to help you assess the feasibility and reaction of the users to make your app the best one in the market.

If you need assistance on taxi app development, we can assist you. Let us know about your business idea, and we’ll do all we can to make it a reality.