The Japanese Case Study

To bring the benefits of artificial intelligence to the taxi business, companies in Japan and Toyota (Japan Taxi, KDDI Corporation, and Accenture) collaborated to form a joint venture. They formed a taxi dispatch system that can predict the demand for taxi services.

The prediction is made possible using data from demographic forecasts based on location and taxi service records. In addition, it also uses various streams of data like weather conditions, availability of public transport, time of the day, the festival season, the presence of commercial hotspots, the possibility of finding the millennial population in that area, and a lot more.

Each company had a different responsibility which worked together to provide the amazing production. Toyota had taken an examination on relevant data. Japan Taxi developed the taxi booking software solution based on the data provided by Toyota and further analyzing the possibilities. KDDI, with its expertise in handling demographic big data, provided geographic and demographic insights for the project. Accenture developed the Artificial Intelligence algorithm that will serve as the prediction engine.

This project might have been regarded to be a futile attempt but it would be surprising for many to know that the AI engine had a staggering 94.1% accuracy in its production.

This case study can be considered the turning point when it comes to the consideration of possibilities in incorporating Hill Climbing Artificial Intelligence into the ride-hailing industry.

The Advantages of Using Artificial Intelligence

Incorporation of technology, however buzzing or fanciful it might be, is not complete without understanding the business benefits. Bringing an AI into the taxi dispatch system has its own share of advantages.

Needless to say, the primary advantage of Artificial Intelligence in the taxi dispatch system is predictive analysis. It can be superficially easy to analyze demands. You can take into consideration parameters like the day of the week, the time of the day, festivals, weather, and a lot more. However, Intelligence by inference might not match up with the intelligence brought by data. Using multiple data streams, AI can help in predicting the demand for taxi services, and that to come up with an alarmingly pleasurable degree of accuracy for the business!

Thanks to the mapping software by Google and Apple, finding a route to even an unknown destination is no longer a big deal. However, these tools might not have enough data to predict the quality of roads. This is where Artificial Intelligence comes in. AI, based on data, can show the most optimized routes to reach a destination. This not only saves time and fuel but also results in better customer delight. In the long run, the data collected over time could come up in combination with predictive analysis that can be used to ensure that the driver/passenger does not ever get caught in a bad route, devoid of traffic. A simple example could be not routing a taxi on a road where a church lies on a Sunday mid-morning.

Autonomous dispatching can also be enabled by Artificial Intelligence. The introduction of the on-demand taxi booking ecosystem has already eliminated the need for an operator. With dedicated mobile applications, drivers can now accept the ride themselves, and even process the payments in their command. However, with the availability of predictive data, the AI engine can even direct drivers to move to a hotspot based on the timing and the distance from that hotspot.

What Does It Mean for The Future?

Market extrapolation shows that the ride-hailing industry will be worth a fortune soon, and any aspiring entrepreneurs who invest in this segment are bound to make a massive profit. However, you cannot present yourself as yet another Uber-like app. Although you can distinguish yourself in multiple aspects, one of the best ways right now is to include Artificial Intelligence as a part of your technology offering.

Artificial Intelligence can not only be incorporated in apps that are built from scratch but also in white label solutions. The amount of AI should not in any way hamper you from incorporating what could be considered the basic features in any ride-hailing app like Uber.

The Basic Features

• Your app should have an easy and simple registration process. It can be effective either by using an email address or a phone number or legacy credentials like Google and Facebook. The registration for the drivers should also include an identity verification process. The registration should immediately create a profile that will keep a record of all important bits of information like the phone number, the payment instruments, the default pick up/drop locations, and a history of all the rides. For the driver, it should contain the banking information, the history of the rides, and the history of commission payouts. The inclusion of an SOS button for the passenger is a welcome security feature.

• To ensure that the payments are smooth, the app should be integrated with a voice to type payment gateway that can accept payments from multiple payment instruments like credit cards, debit cards, internet banking, and wallets. The native wallet should make it easy for the processing of refunds.

• The GPS can be considered the epicenter of the on-demand revolution. The GPS should not only help in showing the user the exact location of the driver when they are on the way to pick up but should also guide the driver in navigating through unknown locations.

• The review and rating system is what makes the entire ride-hailing ecosystem democratic. The passenger should be able to rate the driver based on their experience. The driver should also be able to rate the passenger based on their behavior.

• The payments of the drivers should be promptly credited to their bank account. A referral program should also be in place, so drivers can introduce your app to other drivers. It is to be remembered that the best testimony is that your driver can give yes about prompt payments.

• The administrator, who functions as the godfather of the entire taxi booking ecosystem, should be provided with a special dashboard. The dashboard should contain the vital stats of the app like the existing commission rate, the total revenue, the number of active drivers, and the number of active rides. They should be able to suspend or delete passengers and drivers in case of any inappropriate behavior. They are also responsible for promotions, offers, content, and customer support.

Conclusion

We have already seen that the market for ride-hailing is at an all-time high. Although the COVID-19 pandemic might have pulled down the industry, it is all set to bounce back with a power greater than ever before. For not fighting entrepreneurs, there cannot be a better time to invest in a taxi booking app. The availability of a white-label Uber clone apps makes it easy for you to launch your ride-hailing business.

All that is left for you to do is to get in touch with a company that specializes in the development and customization of white label taxi apps. They will take care to understand your requirements and provide you with a perfect solution that will start your ride-hailing business in the arena of profitability!