Taxis
Taxi Magic online booking smooth, taxi ride not so much
Taxi Magic is an online service and mobile app that lets you easily request a taxi around much of the region (and nation). I tried it for the first time this weekend, and found the technology very smooth, though sadly the taxi driver who arrived wasn't nearly so high-quality.
Photo by Mr. T in DC on Flickr.
Taxi Magic has apps for most smartphones, or you can send a text message or book on the Web. I used the Android app. It first lets you select from their participating providers: Yellow Cab in DC, Red Top in Arlington, Barwood in Montgomery County, and Alexandria Yellow Cab.
You enter a time and location, then get a notification when the taxi is on the way, and can even track it via the mobile app. I used Yellow Cab and also got telephone calls from them directly about the cab. After the ride, you can pay via a credit card using the app as well.
Using the app to request a cab is free, except for whatever fee the locality lets taxis charge for all dispatched trips, which is $2 in DC. If you want to pay by credit card through the system, there's a $1.50 "documentation fee."
This takes a lot of the hassle out of requesting dispatch taxis. Often, you never know if the taxi is coming, and if it's late, have to call a dispatch center and wait on hold for a long time. There's no need to carry a lot of cash or stop at an ATM if you realize at the end of the trip you don't have enough. It can be even more useful for travelers, who don't necessarily know the phone number of a local taxi company.
I'd use it again, but for the next airport trip, might try an Arlington company (which can pick up in DC to go to National). I'd most prefer EnviroCab, which uses all-hybrid vehicles, but they're not on the Taxi Magic network (yet, at least). I actually called EnviroCab first, but they were all booked.
My Yellow Cab driver turned out to be one of the worst I've had in a while. As we were passing through downtown, he asked if I was going to pay cash or credit card; when I said I was using the app, he announced he wanted to transfer us to another Yellow Cab, and turned off the route to go past a hotel where one was waiting. I refused and insisted he take us to the airport, as he is required to do.
He also answered 3 phone calls during the short 15-minute ride. After he answered the second, I asked him politely to please not talk on the phone during the trip. He started angrily shouting that he didn't place the call, but it came, in, and he "had to" answer the phone.
He also said that no law prohibited it. When I tried to calmly note that, in fact, DC law does forbid talking on a handheld phone while driving, he went on a long rant about how he's a "family man" and has no choice about answering the phone. Given that the 1st and 3rd phone calls involved him telling someone his current location, I suspect they weren't calls from his family, but either way, it wasn't appropriate.
He was holding the phone in one hand and the steering wheel in another as he turned from the 14th Street Bridge onto the GW Parkway along the tight turning ramps, and I really worried he would hit something or another car as he merged.
There's not a lot one can do to avoid taxi drivers who shout at you if you ask them to drive safely, except report it to the taxi company and the Taxi Commission, which I will do. One helpful side effect of using Taxi Magic is that it lists the taxi number on the app and in the confirmation emails, so even if you forget to get the car number, you have it for a report.
As for his attempt at getting me out of the cab because I wasn't going to pay cash, that's something cab companies and Taxi Magic will have to work on with drivers. Other cities like New York encountered some initial resistance from drivers about taking credit cards.
Presumably, one of the reasons cab companies might want to participate in Taxi Magic is to get the extra dispatch calls it would bring in over their competitors. If a company wants that business, it needs to make sure its drivers won't then resist what comes with it. I wasn't a regular Yellow Cab customer before (and this didn't make me one); they wouldn't have gotten this fare except for Taxi Magic.
What has been your experience with taxi drivers and credit cards? Have you used this or another smartphone tool for getting taxis?
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
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And arlington cabs always call you when the car is outside.
by charlie on Aug 16, 2011 4:12 pm • link • report
The worst was when I was coming from the airport and needed to make 3 stops and the cab driver wanted to charge us the price it cost from the airport to the city multiplied by three instead of resetting the fare at each stop. When we told him to pull over so we could get in another taxi, he argued us for 10 minutes pointing to a rule on the brochure that had nothing to do with multiple fares.
Unfortunately, they are the only company I've found that you can call in advance and my company uses them, so I probably won't be able to avoid them.
by Jeremy on Aug 16, 2011 4:20 pm • link • report
As for DC cab drivers, I've had more negative experiences with them lately though that might be due in large part because it's been to drive me back to Bethesda late at night.
by Fitz on Aug 16, 2011 4:25 pm • link • report
On the other hand, Barwood drivers are wonderful compared to DC cab drivers. I now do everything in my power to not take a cab in the city. The service is rude, the drivers are scofflaws, and the cabs themselves are stench-laden deathtraps.
by Dave J on Aug 16, 2011 4:33 pm • link • report
by tom veil on Aug 16, 2011 5:08 pm • link • report
1. A jobs program for unskilled workers;
2. A group of voters and political contributors;
3-99 a bunch of other things...
100. A part of an overall transportation strategy for the city.
Until #100 becomes #1, you will never have a true functioning cab system in this city. That means that innovations like...late model cabs (required now in many cities, DC in fact gets rejects from NYC), hybrid cabs (soon to be required in NYC and other cities), universal credit card acceptance (required in many cities), clean interiors with working AC and heat, drivers required to know the basics of the city, and real taxicab inspectors (DC needs more inspectors and they need more authority), are never going to come to DC.
I shudder to think about the first impression visitors to DC get when they step into a DC cab at the airport or Union Station.
by Jaye David on Aug 16, 2011 5:44 pm • link • report
by SJE on Aug 16, 2011 5:45 pm • link • report
by Kevin Beekman on Aug 16, 2011 6:11 pm • link • report
by Derrek on Aug 16, 2011 6:45 pm • link • report
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/2920/time-to-ground-the-washington-flyer/
I wonder what $5 in CMAQ money could buy you in cab improvements.
by charlie on Aug 16, 2011 6:46 pm • link • report
by Ari on Aug 16, 2011 8:34 pm • link • report
When I book a cab the night before with Red Top using the app, it typically shows up on time or several minutes early.
There's no dispatch fee in Arlington, so I almost always use the app unless there's a cab driving by right then.
The app was developed by RideCharge, which is based in Alexandria.
I think Red Top was one of their early adopters. The fannies were a bit herky with it for about a year. But every one of them seem familiar and ambivalent to it now.
by Joey on Aug 16, 2011 9:04 pm • link • report
by Joey on Aug 16, 2011 9:05 pm • link • report
by JMC on Aug 16, 2011 10:35 pm • link • report
But perhaps more importantly, smart phone connectivity could let limo companies be used as consumers like taxi companies but be free of taxi regulations. Limos can't do street hails or taxi stands, but smartphone apps could make 'pre-arranged' happen with very little lead time. DC law says they couldn't use the word 'taxi' or 'taxicab' but doesn't prohibit the word 'cab'.
One thing I could imagine is that you enter your starting location and destination and let various limo operators bid for the ride in real time, with the customer choosing based on price, present proximity of the vehicle, and perhaps eBay-like feedback scores. There are still cross-jurisdictional licensing issues (although I don't think there's anything that prohibits limousines and their operators to be licensed in multiple jurisdictions) but while an Arlington cab, after dropping off a passenger in DC, can only pick up a passenger going to Arlington that is at the same location as the dropoff, and can't, for example, be dispatched a few blocks away to pick up someone going to Arlington, this restriction doesn't, as far as I can tell, apply to limo companies. So they could offer lower bids on rides, to get something out of the return trip back to their home jurisdiction, where a taxi would have to go home empty. Or perhaps as uber expands, it will incorporate normal taxi-style sedans at a lower price than the present upmarket vehicles.
by thm on Aug 16, 2011 10:53 pm • link • report
The downside - according to new reports, the cabbies pay a 6% transaction fee, so there's still some that resist taking cards, especially for low fares, but I didn't have any trouble.
I had some trouble hailing a cab outside a T station in a rain storm (probably no more than at many Metro stations on a Sunday morning), but all in all a much smoother experience than DC.
by Sachchit on Aug 17, 2011 12:26 am • link • report
by steph on Aug 17, 2011 5:56 am • link • report
What I like about TaxiMagic:
- It is easy to use, much easier than waiting for a dispatcher to answer
- When a cab accepts the trip, you get the cab number and the driver's name and a map shows you where you are and where the cab is so you know about how long a wait you will have.
- You get a great trip record you can use for expense reports, complaints and compliments, etc.
- You can pay for both the ride and the tip without having to disclose your credit card number to the cab driver or cab company
I think there is some push back for using credit cards because it is easier to take cash and not claim it as taxable income than credit card transactions. Also, the cabbies get the cash right then, they have to settle up with the credit card payments on the cab company's schedule.
by PDerby on Aug 17, 2011 7:42 am • link • report
Cab driver spends his entire time on the phone after asked to stop, especially in DC where it is illegal, I walk on the fare. They drive like an asshole. No fare. They argue with me about taking a credit card, no fare
You are paying a cab to provide you a service. They don't provide that service, they don't get paid. It is pretty simple.
Then again I only take a cab a few times a year. After having spent years and years of horrible cab experiences in this town, I just stopped taking them. Putting meters in the car was only a marginal help.
by freely on Aug 17, 2011 8:20 am • link • report
I have had something resembling the following conversation several times:
"You don't have cash"?
"No. I don't have cash"
[Some form of huffiness, complaint, offer to take me to an ATM (out of the way, ATM fees for me), asking why I don't carry cash, or "are you sure"?]
"Look, I called THIS taxi company specifically because each and every taxi takes cards, unlike the other guys who can be either/or. I'll happily just call them next time if taking a credit card is such a hassle".
by Catherine on Aug 17, 2011 10:13 am • link • report
by Lane on Aug 17, 2011 10:30 am • link • report
Most 3rd world countries have better taxi systems than the godawful DC mess.
by swester on Aug 17, 2011 10:57 am • link • report
by JQ on Aug 17, 2011 12:39 pm • link • report
I use Taxi Magic often in Arlington and actually give Red Top high marks for just about every trip. They are quick, mostly nice, and rarely care about whether you are paying thru taxi magic, CC, or cash.
I make it a point to tip with cash but pay through the taxi magic app as that usually quiets them from complaining.
Only 1 time have I ever gotten a complain about paying for the fare through the app....I just told him I had no cash so it was either the app or nothing. He went along just fine
Some here have said that taxis offered to take them to an ATM....honestly, if anyone ever told me that, I would tell them to go F-themselves and walk off if my app wasnt acceptable immediately. That is so out of line and ridiculous
by Will on Aug 17, 2011 1:24 pm • link • report
by beatbox on Aug 17, 2011 5:14 pm • link • report
by JCM on Aug 18, 2011 1:57 pm • link • report
by ed on Aug 18, 2011 4:11 pm • link • report
My best Red Top experience - I once had to take a cab from King Street metro to my car repair shop in Arlington and only had enough cash to get half way there (this was before all Red Top cabs took cards). So, I told the guy to drive me for $8 worth of the way and I'd walk the rest. He took my money, got me the whole way there, and didn't even complain.
I hail DC cabs on the street about 3x week and would say 75% are fine and 25% are awful. The biggest improvement would be for all DC cabs to be required to take credit cards.
by Anon2 on Aug 18, 2011 5:22 pm • link • report
I can understand why the drivers are suspicious of online bookings—plans change, and I could theoretically hail a cab before they arrive. But I wish they would at least respect the requested appointed time. There ought to be a rule that they must wait 5 minutes before canceling the request as well so that there is a grace period for the customer. They could even charge a nominal cancellation fee for their time.
Unfortunately most DC cabbies talk on the cell phone during fares. It has yet to be prohibited in DC like it is in New York, and given the power of the taxi lobby I don't see it changing anytime soon.
by Omar on Aug 22, 2011 4:38 pm • link • report
Fortunately I've had very smooth experiences since then, with the "beep" coming within seconds of sending the payment from my phone. Most cabbies are impressed by the smartphone payment system and not so suspicious.
by Omar on Aug 22, 2011 4:41 pm • link • report
I've had other memorable experiences hailing cabs as well. I no longer take cabs except to the airport because the cab drivers always hit on me, for example, and I find that really creepy when I'm in a car being operated by a complete stranger (I had a Flyer driver one time actually exit the highway because he wanted to take me to his "favorite restaurant"...I told him to take me directly home or let me out of the car RIGHT NOW...SCARY, sorry, I don't care if you think that's an over-reaction). Taking a cab in DC is a joke. If I had a friend who was willing to drive me to the airport at 4:30 AM or drag me home late in the evening, I'd never take another cab in/around DC again.
by Ms. D on Aug 30, 2011 3:51 pm • link • report
The average driver has to work at least 90 minutes a day extra to make up what it costs him in fees forced on him by his company, which are the marked-up fees from what TaxiMagic has charged his company to process the credit card.
So, what you gain in convenience by getting to use your mobile toy to book a taxi instead of making a phone call, and by swiping the credit card on a terminal that you control instead of paying the driver, you lose in cooperation from the driver. All equations must balance. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
From the driver's point of view, you're requiring the driver to make up to 1/3 less money on the transaction just so that you can use your toys and feel high tech. If everyone used Taximagic, then the driver would have to work up to FOUR hours extra every single day to earn the same money as if everyone paid cash.
There is a reason that taxi drivers work 12/7, and it's not because they are getting rich. Do you really want a driver who drives 16 hours a day just to make ends meet? How does that benefit your safety?
TD
by TaxiDriver on May 6, 2012 10:04 am • link • report
You and I have different definitions of extortion.
Sure, this device may reduce cab driver earnings. Too bad. Customers should have this choice.
I don't understand why these cab debates center around caring about cab drivers individually, in a way that does not mirror other policy debates. That's very odd to me.
by WRD on May 6, 2012 9:40 pm • link • report
Luckily, I made it, but it was a close one - and that's not a risk I'm willing to take. Done with TaxiMagic after that.
by GWJ on Jun 12, 2012 10:03 am • link • report
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