TaxiFlex

TaxiFlex is an app that allows Paratransit (Informal transit) riders to pay for trip fares online thus eliminating the need for cash. It also makes route and fare information more freely available.

Comment

Please note that taxis, in the South African context generally refers to minibuses that carry 14-22 people

Inspiration

I take taxis very regularly and I'm often frustrated by their inefficiencies. By this I mean

  1. They only accept cash payments, meaning commuters often have to make an extra trip to the ATM
  2. There is very little information available to us commuters, going somewhere you've never been before is a pain because you have to ask around all the time, route information, fare prices etc are not available on the internet

What it does

Taxiflex solves both of the problems listed above by

  1. Enabling taxi drivers to accept taxi fare payments online while also allowing users to pay fares online
  2. Giving commuters access to all the relevant information they need in a single app

How we built it

Taxiflex was built using the Flutter Firebase stack, alongside the use of the Rapyd collect API and Google maps SDK and Directions API

Why Google Maps

We needed a trustworthy and established mapping platform that could also provide us with accurate directions. We also plan to integrate the places API so it was the natural choice

What we learned

I learned to prioritise and set a specific scope before starting a project in case you end up just building everything that comes to mind

What's next for TaxiFlex

  • A better trip history for drivers
  • Better record keeping for drivers
  • Making driver QR codes shareable
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