New app seeks to ease quest for Beijing’s rarely-seen cabs

Beijingers are familiar with long queues when waiting for a taxi and complain they have to put up with the drivers' attitude. Now some of them have been trying out a new taxi-hailing service on their smartphones, which claims to offer something different.

Named Yaoyao Zhaoche ("shake it for a cab"), the app first launched in Beijing in March by Beijing Juhe Zhongxin Company (BJZC).

Wang Weijian, the founder of the company, said the service was first tried out on 20 cars. Now over 1,000 taxis in town have used the app to pick up nearby customers, and they hope to recruit 10,000 more by the beginning of next year.

"After loading the program on an iPhone, you shake it to identify your location and wait up for a driver using your app to respond," said Wang, who said a version of the app for Android phones will be launched on November 8.

"The information of the driver and the taxi will be sent to the rider's phone via texts in a few seconds, and customers can monitor the real-time position of the cab who's going to pick them up," said Wang.

According to BJZC's official website, the passengers need to register an account and have to pay part of their fare in advance, including a 3 yuan ($0.48) service fee. During rush hour, this will be 5 yuan.

Wang said there have been already tens of thousands of registered members. The new service has received mixed feedback from users.

Qian Xiaomi, a 25-year-old woman who needed to go to the railway station on 3 am during the National Day holiday, never thought the app she downloaded for fun would actually help.

"There were no cabs on the street, and 96103 [Beijing taxi service hotline] turned me down as well," said Qian. "I saw the app and shook my iPhone. Then a yellow cab arrived 15 minutes earlier than I assumed."

"They were much nicer than the drivers of the cabs you hail on the street, and it was a real time-saver," said Qian.

A 27-year-old local resident surnamed Zhang, who used the app for the eighth time last Thursday when "the street where her friend lived on was extremely hard to get a taxi," also shared good feelings.

However, there were several times when Qian counted on the service but it failed her.

"Some requests were totally ignored," said Qian.

Wang explained that 48 percent of the requests via app ended up with successful deals last month and he believes it will get better after many more taxis join.

"Another silver lining is that you can plan your route from indoors, instead of standing in the cold or heat and watching empty cabs pass by," noted Wang.

According to Wang, not only can the app can show where the taxi is before it arrives, the ongoing route to the destination will also be displayed on your smart phone.

"This way, the driver cannot make a detour instead of taking the suggested route, which I think will really improve the reputation of the capital's taxi service," said Wang.

Wang's app is often referred to as the Chinese version of Uber, a start-up company based in San Francisco that introduced a similar smartphone app in 2010. Uber was blocked from launching in New York City in September.

A report in the New York Times on September 4, said the program may violate local rules, as the city does not allow for prearranged rides in yellow taxis. In addition, using electronic devices while driving is prohibited.

"Currently we're not facing what Uber had to confront as Beijing doesn't have these issues, but we do share one challenge, that of being a city with great demand for more taxis," said Wang.