The app that's revolutionising the taxi industry

Founded by three London cabbies who saw a demand for a quick, traceable and safe taxi service, Hailo’s been a big hit, says John Daly

THE interminable wait for a taxi is a petty purgatory. Those frustrating midnight prowls in search of transport home may soon be at an end thanks to a new smartphone app, Hailo.

The system is in use in Dublin - but is to be rolled out in other major towns and cities shortly - enabling the public to order a taxi from their location, receive an estimated time of arrival, and talk to the driver.

As well as recording every journey, the app transmits the driver’s photo and roof-sign information to users to ensure safety when booking. Passengers pay by cash or credit card.

“Hailo is Dublin’s largest taxi network and allows users to call a taxi to their current location with just two taps on a smartphone,” said Rob Comisky, marketing manager with the company.

“This means they won’t have to stand in a taxi queue on their own, or end up walking around town alone, trying to flag one down on the road,” he said.

Hailo has plans to roll out the service to other Irish cities and towns over the coming year. “We are recruiting drivers in Cork, at present, and would hope to have the service available there in the early spring, followed by Galway and Limerick later in the year,” he said.

Employing only approved and licensed taxi drivers, Hailo promotes efficiency and safety. “Before the Hailo service came along, people were often faced with quite long waits for taxis, but we now have this down to less than four and a half minutes, on average. Also, being able to pay by credit card has meant there are no more searches for ATM machines on the way home,” he said.

“The app allows users to make a contactless credit-card transaction, with the payment automatically processed at the end of the journey.” One third of Hailo customers use the credit-card payment. The service was boosted last November when it was named the grand prix winner at this year’s Appys Awards. Hailo competed in a field of 300 entries from social media, tablet and Cloud apps.

“Apps will evolve, from what we know them as today, into intelligent pieces of software capable of better organising people’s lives,” said event organiser, Stephen Conmy. “In the minds of the most adventurous app developers, this is just the first generation of technologies that we will wonder how we ever lived without.”

Hailo was founded in 2011 by three London taxi drivers, who were financially backed by a group of internet entrepreneurs. After its successful London launch, Hailo quickly spread to Dublin, Barcelona, Madrid, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, and Chicago, with plans to extend its global reach even further into 2013.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from the taxi industry, and we currently have over 3,000 drivers registered and using the app,” said Mr Comisky. “We have a large number of drivers waiting approval and, at this point, would have over a third of all Dublin drivers signed up.” In a recent marketing survey conducted for Hailo, 56% of respondents said they were anxious for themselves, or for a female friend, getting a taxi alone. “The Hailo service has a great safety proposition in recording all journeys, and sending the driver’s photo and roof sign information direct to the user’s phone. This ensures traceability in the event of belongings being left in the car and, more importantly, ensures passenger safety,” Mr Comisky said.

The survey highlighted interesting information on personal belongings left behind in taxis, with 42% of those surveyed having left their mobile phone.

Umbrellas (25%), wallets (22.5%) and keys (16.4%) were among the most commonly forgotten items, and, intriguingly, 12% of respondents said they left their shoes in a cab.

The survey revealed that 57% of people were unsuccessful in retrieving items they had left in a taxi.

People who inadvertently leave belongings in Hailo taxis can tap the ‘help’ option on the app.

This allows them to call the driver directly for up to an hour after the trip, or contact the office with a description of the lost item.

The office will contact the driver on the client’s behalf.

“Christmas proved a very good test of this particular feature, and we successfully reunited a very large number of taxi users with their briefcases, phones and presents,” said Mr Comisky. “It underlined the efficiency and transparency of the Hailo system in a way that taxi clients have never had here before. “The safety aspect of the app is, without a doubt, its best feature, giving customers security and advance knowledge of when the taxi will be arriving, and who will be driving it.

“We have seen this, particularly, with parents who use the service for their children, secure in the knowledge they will arrive home safe,” he said.