Multiple Functional Requirements That Cater to an Online Cab Booking Software Application

Introduction

Uber and Lyft are the two companies that have shown the world how to make millions just by aggregating cabs to hire. Since then, people in similar transport businesses involving the hiring of cars have fallen for a beeline to get all those customers who just want to hire a vehicle by tapping on a mobile app.

So the demand for taxi booking app development has skyrocketed. Aggregators are on the lookout for the best feature-rich app that will woo the customers looking for a ride.

Top taxi app development companies are in the breakneck competition to bring out the best apps that will make commuting a pleasure when hiring or sharing a cab ride.

The Ever-Increasing Penetration Of The Internet Has Made Taxi Booking a Child's Play

No More Telephone Calls  

Gone are the days when Rent-a-Car services were to be called for hiring a cab if one could not find one enroute or had to make an outstation errand. Anybody having access to the internet, be it via a smartphone or a computer, can book a taxi in minutes.

Internet users are ever-growing, so are the cab bookers.

• According to Statista estimate, there will be 5 billion active internet users globally in the current year, and the figure is projected to grow by another 300 million by 2023. The more people get into the web, the more they are availing of the services of an online cab booking system.
  
• Statista also projects global app cab users will be 20% of the population by 2022, which will also see a rise of another 1.1% by 2026.
  

Huge Revenues Will Be Reaped From An Online Cab Booking System

Statista research projects that maximum revenue collection through an online cab booking system will see it happen in China, and the estimated figure is USD 101,253 mn by 2022.

More Options Are Available In The Way One Plans To Use The Hired Cab

• Cab booking has been extended to booking Bike rides, making travel more affordable to single passengers.
  
• Services like Zoomcar let the passengers be the drivers by renting the car to them.
  
• Ride sharing has made cab travel cheaper for single passengers.
  

Prompt And Advance Booking Features, As Well As The Economy, Have Fanned Taxi Booking App Development

• Finding the nearest cab/bike/autorickshaw driver is just a matter of minutes, right from deciding to take the trip and boarding the vehicle.
  
• Shared rides and bike rides have turned trips between two destinations cheaper only next to mass public transport like buses and metro.
  
• A passenger can book a taxi in advance with app cabs as compared to a running taxi service. It's a huge convenience.
  

Why It Is The Best Time For Developers To Plunge Into Taxi Booking App Development

• The phenomenal margin of profit booking as pioneered by the two forerunner companies Uber and Ola has lured a bandwagon of start-ups in India and abroad to jump into the business of taxi booking app development.
  
• With the ever-increasing penetration of mobile devices globally, there has been a burgeoning demand for taxi booking app development.
  

Too Many Players Have Set The Standards High For Developers Of An On-Demand Cab Booking App

The app market is flooded with too many competing apps for online cab booking. The new app developer must ensure the best features in his product for download and subscription.

The Most Sought After Functional Requirements of an Online Cab Booking System

User Guide

The user should come across the well-defined user guide when launching the application for the first time.

It should encompass all aspects of the app and simplify it for the user to complete the task.

This type of app introduction guide aids the user in comprehending the app's features and primary function. It should be a user guide with a lot of UX.

Smooth Registration or Sign-Up

• A developer does not want to annoy his users by requiring them to undergo a lengthy registration process.
  
• It's best not to request payment information at the time of sign-up.
  
• The majority of individuals prefer to pay in cash rather than with a credit card or through online payment channels.
  
• To ensure that user prospects have as little difficulty as possible during the initial procedure, registration or sign-up should be simple.
  
• It has been noticed that if users are required to complete a lengthy sign-up process, they are more likely to exit the app at that point.
  

Details such as follows should be requested during registration:

• Mobile Number
• Name
• User Name
• Password
• Email id
  

A User Interface (UI) That Is Friendly And Can Track Location

The most appealing aspects of an online booking system are those that make the booking procedure convenient for the user.

Users would look for fewer steps to complete the transaction in just a few taps when booking cabs in a hurry.

A search bar for pickup and drop-off locations, a selection of the sort of ride they want, GPS pinpointedly sensing his current position, and a map to display the user the current location of the cab vis-a-vis his own location - these will roughly be the minimum requirements.

The app must provide for saving most frequented places under favorites, home, office, etc. This saves time by not having to select destinations every time.

Easy Trip Booking Process By The User - Flexible And Assuring

The app should take the users to the home screen, where they can enter the trip information in the form of pick up and destination points once registration is over.

Salient Steps In The Booking Process Are

• User will enter a pickup location using the search field.

• Asking the user to switch on GPS (global positioning system) enables detecting the passenger's current position information.

• Showing up the location on a map view assuring the user that the correct location of the passenger has been registered with the app.

Ride Now or Later Option

• Following the selection of a convenient method of transportation, the user should have the choice of riding immediately or at a later time.
  
• Users who need to schedule the journey for a later date will get a pop-up window where they can select the date and the desired time.
  
  
• This is useful during peak hours when it's challenging to obtain a cab without having to deal with the headache of a time-bound booking. This is a nice feature in the Cab Booking app.
  

Estimate Of Arrival Time For The Booked Cab

• The application should display the option of selecting a cab and the expected arrival time for the user's convenience.
  
• The user will be aware of the expected arrival time from the start.
  
• It is one of the most valuable things that every cab booking software should have.

Booking Confirmation Info

If users confirm that they want to book a ride right away, the on-demand cab booking app should display a confirmation screen with all the ride's details and a free estimate.

It also allows users to apply any deductions using coupon codes.

The Precision Of Estimated Fare

• Users must be able to view the estimated fare on the app. Every app that is worth using includes a function that allows the user to calculate the cost of the trip ahead of time.
  
• There are multiple rate tables for cabs, as well as surge fares. Before hiring a cab, customers always want to see the price. This becomes the make or breaks feature of the app as they can compare the offered rate with that by a similar competing app open in his device and decide which app to use for booking this trip.
  
• After the user selects the pickup and drop-off locations, they should be able to see an estimation of the ride cost.
  
• Users will be uninterested in the cab service if the app lacks this feature, and the cab service will not want such an app from a developer.
  

Transparency In The Pricing Of Fare

• Transparency in pricing is one of the deciding aspects that would make any online cab booking service a hit with users.
  
• The program should display information about fares straightforwardly and understandably for the user.
  
• There should be a rate card option in the app, where the user can see the fare breakdown and the rate card for the selected ride.

Confirmation Page For Ride Details

Once the journey has been confirmed, the application should allow the user to see the cab's current location, as well as the projected arrival time and other information as follows:

• The Driver's Name
  
• The cab's registration number
  
• Mobile number of the driver
  
• The car's make, model, and color
  
• An OTP that the driver will use to initiate the trip
  
• To reach the pickup point, it will display a "Call Driver" switch to talk to the driver for any navigation-related details
  
• There must be a "Cancel Ride switch which allows the user to cancel the booked ride before the driver arrives at the mentioned pickup point. If the user's ride plan requires certain unavoidable alterations, this option might be used.
  

Completion Of Ride And Feedback Sharing

• The users may be prompted with a screen showing the trip distance and cost after completing the ride.
  
• For user engagement, the app should prompt the user to provide feedback or a rating on the ride experience for the driver.
  
• The driver's rating is not for future reference; rather, it aids the corporation in determining the level of client satisfaction.
  
  

These conclude the de-facto fundamental requirements of an on-demand cab booking app.

A few notable features, as listed below, render the online cab booking system differentiated and desirable as achieved by the relevant app.  

Live Tracking Of The Ride

• The user can monitor both the live status of the booked cab before it reaches the pickup point as well as the live status of the ongoing trip in this function.
  
• Since the user is constantly refreshed with the latest GPS coordinates of the cab in real-time, it adds to an enhanced user experience.
  
• The user remains updated about any traffic congestion en route and stays up to date with live traffic conditions assuming the expected time of arrival at the drop place.
  

Choice Of Car Types

The user is offered with economy or luxury travel preferences by compact hatchbacks, sedans, or SUVs vis-a-vis display comparative prices and seating capacities in each type of car.

In-App Communication

The driver and commuter can communicate over call/message before the cab's arrival.

My Rides Option

Lists all rides taken - past, ongoing, and scheduled - for tracking complete documentation about journeys with the particular cab aggregator.

Versatile Payment Options

• As the globe moves toward digitalization of payment systems, one can pay for a cab ride using a mobile wallet or through a variety of payment gateways such as Internet Banking, Card Payments, UPI, and others.
  
• When users arrive at their destination, the fare will be automatically deducted via payment API, and an invoice copy will be mailed to the user's registered email address. However, if the user had opted for Cash payment, they will be paying an equivalent amount of cash as displayed on-screen post completion of the ride.

Emergency Contact And SOS Button

To make a ride further safe, an app can incorporate the option of providing an emergency telephone number of a person who might be contacted by the aggregator in the event of any unfortunate incidents/accidents, etc.

An in-app SOS button immediately relays the ride details to the emergency contact number provided by the user and police. This may save a lady commuter in the event of potential misbehaviour by the driver.

Earning From Referrals

The market for online cab booking system services has exploded. The developer can offer a referral program to acquire a huge piece of the market by allowing users to recommend their family and friends using the referral code and receive enticing discounts on forthcoming rides.

A user can also send an invitation by email, SMS, or social media sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

FAQs

Because online booking services are still in their infancy in some regions of the world, the application being procured should provide a detailed FAQ section that answers all of the frequently asked questions.

The aggregator may ponder upon the following facts to be successful:

• Investing in professional and qualified drivers, as lousy drivers, might damage the aggregator company's reputation. However, rating-based incentives to drivers and aggregators' commissions should be judiciously fixed and should not be extremely punitive for the driver. Denials and cancellations on behalf of the driver are the outcomes of the struggle for sustenance. Low cash flow forces some drivers to cancel rides once they know the commuter is paying via wallet.
  
• Building a solid cab database to match market demand.
  
• More serviceable locations in a city.
  
• Online Diver Documentation is a valuable addition to the app.
  
• Shortest possible wait time — The shorter the wait time, the happier the user will be.

Conclusion

With the advent of the Android operating system for mobile devices, software development has become 'app-centric,' and Google Playstore, for example, is teeming with numerous taxi booking apps to choose from. All are competing with each other with stunning features to make cab rides even faster and easier.

Appypie, TagMyTaxi, MTOAG, Enuke Software, Space-O-Technologies, TaxiStartup, Yalantis, Mobisoft, Peerbits, Innofield Solutions are some of the top taxi app development companies.