The Problem
Holding dangerous taxi drivers accountable is one of the most important problems to solve if we want to reduce collisions between vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists. Yet the only way to do this is for the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to charge drivers with violations. TLC has their own enforcement but they are very small. So the TLC relies heavily on passengers and pedestrians to contact 311 (by phone or web) and report an official complaint about drivers. The driver was on a cell phone, drove recklessly, went through a red light, refused to take a passenger somewhere, honked excessively, or failed to yield to a bike or person… are just a few.
But there is a massive disconnect. There are 175 million yellow taxi rides each year. Yet only 13,000 complaints were made in 2013. This means 99.993% of all trips get no feedback about the drivers. Which means the TLC is helpless to hold dangerous drivers accountable simply because they don’t have enough points on their licenses. But with more official complaints from consumers, the TLC will have more actionable information to take the worst offending drivers off the streets and reduce the potential for collisions.
The problem Reported is solving is to make reporting these complaints significantly easier and less time consuming than the typical 10 minute call to 311.
The Solution
Reported is an iOS app that lets you submit a taxi complaint on-the-go, in 30 seconds, and helps you understand the complaint lifecycle. We make it easy for New yorkers to engage with 311 and help the TLC by increasing valuable feedback about taxi drivers so they can take action which makes our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and passengers.
App Features
Reported lets you:
- Submit an official 311 complaint in under 30 seconds
- Receive notifications about the status of your complaint
- View previous complaints and details about them
- Look up any charge a taxi driver must follow and see the rule, the fine, as well as results from complaint data from the last 2 years
- Look up any driver or medallion to see their violations
For more about how the idea was conceived and created check out Reported.cab.
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