Ayoni M. Agbabiaka
In less than a month residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would be exposed to a new taxi system ‘Easy Taxi.’
Easy taxi is an electronic based taxi-call-system with about 100 vehicles (taxis) already in the fleet of the transport company to service the city with prompt response passenger call for taxi service within the FCT.
Managing Director, Easy Taxi, Bankole Cardoso, in a pressing briefing yesterday in Garki, said, “by mid-July to early August, we should be really up and running in Abuja.
He said the innovation would complement the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s (FCTA) efforts for safe commuting in the federal capital territory.
He said all taxis in its fleet have been fitted with a smart phone with free Easy Taxi application (app) installed that “allows prospective passengers who have already installed the free application on his smart phone to request for a taxi from whatever location in the territory which includes the comfort of his home.”
He said: “Such request will alert all taxis within a passenger radius while those (drivers) available in that axis would reply giving estimated time of arrival just as details of the driver who accepts the request are flagged for the passenger to assess for easy recognition.”
Bankole said the 100 taxis already on its fleet in Abuja were owned by the drivers whose details were collected and stored in its data bank for the consumption of prospective passenger.
He emphasised that each driver on its fleet was connected to three other drivers who operate from their respective parks.
He, however, assured that the service would not increase taxi fares obtainable in the territory as taxi drivers and passengers would still maintain their usual drop rates.
“It is important that we clear here that we are not a premium service, we do not charge more than the taxis you get on the road, and we are just linking passengers and the taxis that you get on the road in a quick, safer and convenient manner. So, the price that you pay on ‘Easy Taxi’ is the same price as you pay on your regular taxi. We only get ten percent of the rate he (the driver) charges.”
He also said the taxis were not branded on the outside as they remained the property of their respective owners, but inside the taxis were Easy Taxi-branded perfume, Taxi logo head rest and air fresher.
“To request for a taxi, you download the application through the internet. It only takes you two clicks to have a driver coming to pick you, so you don’t have to make a call.
“When you request for Easy Taxi through the internet, you are going to see the driver’s name, his phone number, the type of car he is driving, so you know exactly which car you are looking for.
“The system has been in operation in Lagos since July 2013, but the company is only six weeks old in Abuja and is still at the recruitment phase-just getting drivers into the system.”