In addition to the names you listed, Revel in NYC comes to mind, as I've seen their blue fleet of Tesla rideshare vehicles on the roads there. Revel drivers are also employees, not contractors, although I'm not sure if they were doing this before Alto...
Anyway, the major takeaway for me is your deduction that this is "not a winner-takes-all" industry. The advantages that local/regional players can offer drivers *and* passengers are both compelling enough to make them viable but also limit their ability to scale nationally. In a way, we're inching back to the old structure of the private car industry, where local offerings could run profitably but did not aim to grow significantly.
One benefit Uber/Lyft will always have: when you or I touch down in a new city, want an alternative to hailing a local taxi for any reason (cost, safety, etc.), it's far easier to open the known app rather than have to research what is the best local alternative rideshare provider.
Thanks for sharing. This is very interesting. Also, if you look at Ola (India) or Freenow (Germany) as example, it seems to work well. The expansion of Ola to not only to network of cabs or but also to auto rickshaws (three wheelers and even bikes) for short distances and allowing multiple platforms seems to deliver. They also include high-quality cabs at low costs, luxury cabs at airports etc.
Freetaxi as well as multi mode of transport in Germany and offers a straight forward service. Both have upfront fee services so customers know what they will pay and there is no deviation to the price. All the information related to driver, including taxi number are shown in the app so there is a certainty of having the same cab as booked. I believe, apart from technology, training on EI is far critical. While SoP are making sure consistency in services, it is the EI which is differentiating on how cab providers will gain repeat business.
In addition to the names you listed, Revel in NYC comes to mind, as I've seen their blue fleet of Tesla rideshare vehicles on the roads there. Revel drivers are also employees, not contractors, although I'm not sure if they were doing this before Alto...
Anyway, the major takeaway for me is your deduction that this is "not a winner-takes-all" industry. The advantages that local/regional players can offer drivers *and* passengers are both compelling enough to make them viable but also limit their ability to scale nationally. In a way, we're inching back to the old structure of the private car industry, where local offerings could run profitably but did not aim to grow significantly.
One benefit Uber/Lyft will always have: when you or I touch down in a new city, want an alternative to hailing a local taxi for any reason (cost, safety, etc.), it's far easier to open the known app rather than have to research what is the best local alternative rideshare provider.
Thanks for sharing. This is very interesting. Also, if you look at Ola (India) or Freenow (Germany) as example, it seems to work well. The expansion of Ola to not only to network of cabs or but also to auto rickshaws (three wheelers and even bikes) for short distances and allowing multiple platforms seems to deliver. They also include high-quality cabs at low costs, luxury cabs at airports etc.
Freetaxi as well as multi mode of transport in Germany and offers a straight forward service. Both have upfront fee services so customers know what they will pay and there is no deviation to the price. All the information related to driver, including taxi number are shown in the app so there is a certainty of having the same cab as booked. I believe, apart from technology, training on EI is far critical. While SoP are making sure consistency in services, it is the EI which is differentiating on how cab providers will gain repeat business.