Minibus taxis are a very common and convenient way to travel around South Africa. If you don’t know where you’re going or how to get there, things can get a little bit tricky. “The taxi industry is believed to be transporting nearly 16 million commuters daily. This means 16 million South Africans have an experience with our taxis every day, and what we’re trying to do is to make this navigation simpler and smoother for both commuters and drivers,” says Meshi Qwelane, MiTaxi Founder.
MiTaxi, in partnership with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), has launched a new app, which aims to improve the user experience of the South African taxi network. The app is officially available and is set to introduce route signs to users to make hailing a taxi much more effective; and will feature GPS settings that will notify users when they have arrived at their destined location.
The mobile app also creates a platform for the taxi industry to engage with its passengers through the “Message by The President” feature that will incorporate monthly messages from SANTACO President Philip Taaibosch. Qwelane says the MiTaxi app will help passengers to find their points of departure much easier, estimate their arrival through the GPS system, and plan ahead for their daily commute.
MiTaxi will pilot the following routes: Noord Taxi Rank to Randburg, Johannesburg to Pretoria and Pretoria Bloed Street Taxi Rank. “Every week we will add new routes as we continue to improve the user’s interaction with the platform. We’ll work together with SANTACO collating information regarding routes, ranks, fares, rank marshals, and driver empowerment,” says Qwelane.
The benefits of downloading the app include
• Connecting users to the taxi route network,
• Information on taxi fares & notifying users on price changes,
• Giving users a 24hour notice on planned taxi industry strikes to enable them to organize
alternative transport
• Introducing users to queue marshals and rank managers for each taxi rank,
• encouraging users to report good and bad driving
The app is free to download and accessible across all mobile devices with Android.
