During the past couple of years or so, there has been a quiet but gradual cab revolution in major cities, including Lahore. Having had to commute by taxi for a couple of weeks recently, one was pleasantly surprised. The service is efficient and the cars comfortable and clean. There are no meters to be tampered with or lengthy haggling over price. Through technology you are provided an estimated cost prior to embarking on your trip. A significant majority of the cars are newly leased. The remaining taxis are actually cars owned by the drivers and thus carefully maintained.
The drivers too have changed. What mostly used to be professional drivers are now being replaced with more educated counterparts, either supplementing their incomes or opting for this as a career choice. There is also a sizeable representation of students, who are supporting themselves through colleges. They are also honest. A cousin recently left a very expensive camera in a taxi on her way to the airport. The driver was kind enough to bring it back to the house, not even trusting his corporate office for the sake of privacy.

The returns are not too shabby. Depending upon the amount of time you put into it, according to the drivers, you can earn up to Rs60,000 plus. With these kinds of returns and job independence, no wonder it is becoming a popular choice. It is also encouraging entrepreneurship. Financially-savvy operators are looking at leasing options for putting other cabs on the road. These efforts need to be supported by the government, through cheaper and easier car financing.

Another aspect to travelling in these taxis is the conversation. It can be said that if you really want to know what is going on in the city you should ask a taxi driver. These days it is all about politics. Infrastructure comes in a close second. The conversation and politeness is encouraged by technology. There is a rating system for each driver which the application asks you fill after every trip.

There are two major players in the market - one is a Middle-Eastern-based franchise and the other an American. The differentiating factor from earlier services is the technology platform. The layer of technology adds value, even though not far from the original ‘call a cab model’. Despite the real-time interaction with the cab driver, more often than not, the driver has to finally call you to find the exact address.

With our current account deficit, one wonders, why this technology cannot be internalised. After all what is basically required is web-based connectivity, with the disparate drivers. It is quite certain we have enough IT talent that an application can be designed indigenously to supplant these franchises. This would save us precious foreign exchange through profit remittances and franchise costs and lower fares substantially.

Also, an Android app can be designed which would all together eliminate the middleman or in this case the franchise companies. This would eliminate the profit margin for these companies and make costs much more appealing for the consumers.

The induction of these companies has provided an important supplementary backbone to our lack of quality public transport services, in Lahore and other major cities in Punjab. To be fair the prices are rather steep. Cars and services are categorised according to quality and consequently prices. For the price conscious an innovative element is the induction of rickshaws and motorcycles. Getting around town for most has now become quite simple.

As to other public transports projects: the metro-bus, hailed as major breakthrough, seems to be on the rocks. It appears more than likely that the current Rs20 fare will have to be corrected to make the project independently sustainable. The other ‘white elephant’, the Orange Line train’s completion remains elusive. How it will serve the populace and what price, Lahoris await with bated breath. — (AmLahori@gmail.com)

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2018