On-demand transportation may have become synonymous with taxi booking apps like Uber, Lyft, Didi, Ola, Careem, etc. However, mobile app powered transportation has continued to expand into new segments with practical use cases.
Hailing a cab on-demand by making a few taps on a mobile device is great, but how about doing the same for calling a motorbike?
Just like you hail an Uber, you can use a bike taxi app and request a bike ride to your destination. You may ask why you would want to drop the comfort of traveling in an AC car. But when you want to travel fast and cheap, nothing beats a 2-wheeler option like a bike.
Bikes can cover distances in significantly lower time compared to cars in congested urban cities. The cost savings are pretty obvious. It also reduces fuel consumption and creates less impact on the environment.
It’s no wonder that they are popular in many parts of the world including Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and other Asian countries. Many startups are going for bike taxi app development and launching their own app-based bike taxi services.
Ola has already started offering bike rides in many parts of India under the name Ola Bike. Uber isn’t far behind either, offering the uberMOTO on-demand bike service in multiple Indian cities. And it’s just the beginning.
How Does A Bike Taxi App Work?
Well, we all would have booked a cab sometimes using a taxi app. Booking a bike taxi is just the same. Instead of cabs, you will use the app to get a bike ride.
- Request Ride
Passengers have to provide their pickup and drop details and confirm the booking from an app. A nearby biker is assigned to them. - Enjoy Ride
The biker picks up the passenger and drops if at his desired destination. He even provides a helmet to the passenger to wear for safety. - Pay Online
Passengers can seamlessly pay for their economical ride using online payment methods or cash, just like a cab ride. - Rate Trip
Passengers can provide ratings for their overall ride experience.
Market Opportunity For Bike Taxis
Bike taxi apps and services are becoming a popular commute option in the Asian countries along with the standard taxi services. Many startups like Rapido, Baxi, Go-Jek and, Grab have launched their services in different countries around the world.
The success of such apps has prompted on-demand transportation giants like Uber to introduce their own version of bike taxi services. uberMOTO, the bike taxi service of Uber has already offered more than 2 million rides in India.
Bike taxi services are getting popular among the commuters because of two major factors – a shorter time of commute and cheaper rides compared to 4-wheeler cabs. Using a bike, you can reach your destination very quickly. A distance which may take 30 minutes to travel by car in traffic can be covered in 15-20 minutes on a bike. It minimizes commuting challenges in heavy traffic and can be a more suitable option to quickly reach somewhere. The operating cost of bikes is also less than cars. This translates into lower fares and cheaper rides. Businesses interested in launching their own bike taxi services can consider investing in a bike taxi app development solution. It is also important to understand some of the standard features any bike taxi app would need. Let us discuss them in more detail below.
Key Components and Features of Bike Taxi Apps
Any bike taxi solution will have three key stakeholders – passengers, bikers and the business/platform admin. Each of them needs a robust technology solution to meet their needs in the simplest possible manner. A typical bike taxi app development solution would build these 3 components:
- Customer App
To book, track and pay for the rides. - Bike Driver App
To get real-time requests and navigate to the pickup location. - Platform/Business Admin Panel
Web panel to seamlessly manage the entire bike taxi service.
Let us explore the features of each one in more detail below.
Customer App Features
- Easy Bookings
A good bike taxi app should let the passenger book a ride in a few simple taps. After a ride is confirmed, the passenger should get the expected time of arrival of their bike ride and the approximate fare. - Vehicle and Route Tracking
The app should be integrated with mapping services like Google Maps so that customers can track their bike when it is arriving and while they are on the way. - Seamless Payments
The app should provide multiple payment modes to choose from when making a payment. - Ratings System
Passengers should be able to rate the bike rider after a trip is completed. - Trip History
Dedicated section for customers to easily manage all their trips – upcoming and past. - Real-Time Notifications
Bike taxi app users should get timely updates on the progress and status of their ride through push and SMS alerts. - Help & Support
Dedicated section for customers to report issues with drivers or rides. Common issues can also be listed under FAQs for easy referencing.
Driver App Features
- Easy Registration
Drivers can sign up quickly after providing the necessary details. They can also upload scanned copies of documents like their driving license and vehicle registration details through the app. - Go Online/Offline Button
Drivers can control their availability status through a simple online/offline toggle. This gives them the flexibility to work as their preferred time. - Trip Bookings
Drivers receive notifications on their app when a booking is confirmed. They can choose to receive or decline the booking from the request screen. - GPS Navigation
Google Maps like navigation service for drivers to offer a prompt and seamless pickup and drop experience. - Start/End Ride
Drivers can start a ride using the start button after they pick up a customer. Another option would enable them to end the ride once the destination is reached. - Track Earnings
Drivers can track all their earnings from the earning tab. They can get a detailed breakup based on the number of trips and other parameters. They can also manage their payment account details from this section. - Customer Ratings
Drivers can also rate the customers for their behavior after completing a trip.
Driver Dashboard
Drivers can use a personalized dashboard to get useful insights and feedback about their service. It would help them to improve their service.
Admin Panel Features
- Admin Dashboard
Complete summary and statistics of the business operations are available from the dashboard. The admin can get a top-level view of their entire operations from here. - Manage Drivers
Admins can add, remove or modify details of drivers. It can also be used for evaluating signups, assign categories, managing commission rates, payouts and more. - Manage Customers
Add and manage the customer details, view their booking requests, feedback, queries and more. - Manage Bikes
Manage vehicle information and add new bikes from an easy to use panel. - Fleet Tracking
Admins can track their entire bike taxi fleet on a map in real-time with the relevant details. - Manage Fares
Manage complete tariff structure including base fare, waiting time charges and even set custom pricing, rate per unit distance and more. - Manage Notifications
Manage settings and content for sending push notifications, SMS alerts and email to customers and drivers. - These are some of the major features for the three main components on an app-based bike taxi service. One can add or remove features and functions and customize them according to their business needs during the bike taxi app development process.
How to Run A Successful Bike Taxi Business?
Just launching a bike taxi app doesn’t guarantee that your business will be successful. For that, you need to start with an analysis of the market to determine if your idea is feasible and promote your app with professional app marketing services.
You would also need to check the regulatory policies to determine if they allow bike taxi operators. Once you have done that, you have to build a network of drivers and bikes. You can also build a sharing platform where people who already own a bike can share their ride with those who need one. One can call it bike pooling (similar to carpooling but with bikes).
If one can target the right market with the right set of technology and planning, they have fair chances of getting success!
How Much Does A Bike Taxi App Solution Cost?
The cost of the of building a bike taxi solution or an Uber for bikes will depend on a number of factors. These include the features, customizations and, integrations.
Still, to give you a ballpark number, a typical bike taxi app development project can cost somewhere around $20k. If you need more details, feel free to connect with our on-demand app solution experts.
Wrapping Up!!
Bike taxi apps are a very interesting manifestation of the on-demand app-based transportation revolution that got triggered a few years back with the launch of Uber. Particularly in the Asian and African markets, such services hold tremendous promise and opportunity. The growing popularity of many bike taxi apps in these countries is a solid validation of this trend.
If you are a startup or business looking to build an on-demand bike taxi platform, we can provide you the right technology guidance and successfully carry out a tailored bike taxi app development project lead by our in-house team of on-demand app development experts.
Contact us now to kick-start your bike taxi startup project.
Author’s Bio
Nitin Lahoti is the Co-Founder and Director at Mobisoft Infotech. He has 12+ years of experience in Design, Business Development and Startups. His expertise is in Product Ideation, UX/UI design, Startup consulting and mentoring. He prefers business readings and loves traveling. Follow him @nitinlahoti
