By Uber and Lyft are great, but one issue with them is that you have to use their drivers and pay their prices to get quick and easy rides. Karhoo wants to change that.
Karhoo is a new service which acts as an open platform for taxi services. Existing Taxi services can hook into Karhoo and make their services available to anyone using the app. This gives you greater flexibility as it allows riders to find the best price and ride for their needs. You can sort rides by regular taxi, black car style, SUVs — you name it.
Karhoo’s idea isn’t exactly groundbreaking when it comes to technology, but it’s all the other stuff it enables that makes us excited. It’ll ensure prices will never be hiked beyond belief, as companies have to compete with each other to offer the most compelling prices. There won’t be sudden surge charges due to some arbitrary formula, for instance.
It’s also a nice compromise for the taxi industry. Drivers in the classic taxi formula feel threatened by services like Uber and Lyft, with many petitioning to have the services outlawed. Karhoo invites them to partake in this new age of ride-hailing without having to feel that threat.
But, as with anything, it will all come down to adoption. Karhoo isn’t off to the fastest of starts, with only the UK being offered services in this trial phase. That said, they’ve already gotten 80,000 drivers from nearly half a dozen UK taxi companies hooked in, and they plan to test the service in New York and Singapore by the end of this year. The company also expects they’ll be in over 100 cities within a year’s time.
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