Another Uber-like service coming to Austin.

Another Uber-like service coming to Austin.

Another company is planning to launch a new, taxi-company-backed ride-hailing service in Austin in early 2016.

The news comes as Uber Technologies inc. and Lyft Inc. have made threats to leave the market if the Austin City Council on Thursday passes regulations they don’t like, and as another option – Get Me – prepares to launch its own taxi-like ride-hailing service this week in Austin.

Called ZTrip, the planned ride-hailing service allows riders to hail a driver through a smartphone app, similar to Uber and Lyft’s offerings. ZTrip is actually more of a ride-hailing software platform developed by transportation company TransDev North America, a division of Paris-based Transdev (formerly Veolia Transportation) that local transportation companies can partner with to offer an app-based ride-hailing service.

Here in the Austin area, TransDev is partnering with Round Rock-based 10-10 Taxi to launch the new ZTrip service.

ZTrip has already partnered with local taxi companies to offer taxi-backed, app-based ride-hailing services in PittsburghKansas CityBaltimoreOrlando, TampaDenver and Phoenix. Yellow Cab, the dominant taxi company in Austin, has for years had its own app called Hail A Cab.

Unlike Uber and Lyft, ZTtrip does not use surge pricing, and unlike taxi companies, does not charge a per-minute surcharge. Also unlike Uber and Lyft, ZTrip will be using licensed taxi drivers or chauffeurs who have been through the background checks that Uber and Lyft are fighting against.

“We’re real anal about the background checks and driving record, and we give them a training. They’re like independent contractors,” said Veronica Rios, sales and marketing manager for 10-10 Taxi. “It’s like they’re taking a little franchise from us. We’re still the backbone for them. We control the dispatch. We actually have an office here in Austin, so if there are any complaints from the client we’re here to take care of it.”

The move is a big expansion for 10-10 Taxi, which is not a licensed taxicab franchise in Austin and can only pick up taxi fares in its licensed jurisdictions in Williamson County. But since it now has a TNC agreement with Austin, its drivers can begin to take fares in the city.

The 10-10 Taxi and ZTrip partnership is one of now five companies that has a signed agreement with the city of Austin allowing them to operate so-called transportation network company services. Uber and Lyft are currently the only active companies with TNC agreements with the city. Get Me, which launches this week, is another. There is also Sidecar LLC, which tried to operate in Austin in 2013 before city regulators effectively shut it down. Sidecar’s efforts to sue the city to allow its service were unsuccessful.

Since then, Sidecar has yet to return to Austin. It has also pivoted from a ride-hailing service to a business-to-business delivery platform.

“We have an Austin permit, but have no immediate plans to return,” said Margaret Ryan, spokeswoman for Sidecar. “If we do, it will likely be with deliveries because the regulatory burden is less than rideshare.”

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zTrip in Northern Colorado is looking for great drivers!

zTrip in Northern Colorado is looking for great drivers!


DENVERJune 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — zTrip, a new innovative taxi service with a fleet of more than 500 vehicles is in need of drivers for its on-demand car service for Ft. Collins, Boulder and Denver, Colorado. zTrip combines the safety of a taxi service with the convenience and cost of on-demand services.

“Unlike our competitors, we provide our drivers with the tools and opportunity to earn compensation that can make driving a full-time career,” said Bill George, President of zTrip. “zTrip has the tools and systems for them to build a real future in transportation.”

zTrip stands out from the competition, providing our drivers with:

  • Freedom to create personal customers
  • 24/7 live driver support
  • The ability to set their own hours
  • Company provided vehicle
  • All vehicle maintenance covered
  • Commercial-grade insurance
  • Business development assistance to all drivers

“zTrip combines the best features of the new e-hailing transportation services with the safety and security of licensed and registered drivers. We are committed to providing our drivers with the best working environment in the on demand transportation sector,” said George. “We’re looking to partner with hard working people who love to drive and make great money doing it.”

About zTrip
zTrip is the latest service offering by Transdev On Demand, the largest on demand transportation provider in the United States. zTrip provides the safest and most cost effective ride with transparent pricing and professionally trained, licensed and insured drivers.

zTrip gives you the most control over your transportation with taxi or black car options, now or later pickups, cash or credit payments and phone or street hailing. Backed by over 25 years of experience, zTrip is committed to providing the safest rides.

For more information, visit zTrip at www.ztrip.com.

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SOURCE zTrip

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https://www.ztrip.com

Jamie Campolongo talks zTrip and the transportation service of the future.

Jamie Campolongo talks zTrip and the transportation service of the future.

Late last month, Yellow Cab of Pittsburgh hosted a press conference to publicly announce its transformation into the innovative app-based transportation service zTrip Taxi. The announcement finalized the company’s aggressive $5 million rebranding campaign, which was initiated in order to compete with the ride-share startups Uber and Lyft. Among the new offerings are a crop of new drivers, an upscale black car service and a fleet of new and existing vehicles emblazoned with the zTrip logo.

zTrip president Jamie Campolongo reflects on the decision to retire Yellow Cab and the next steps the company will soon take.

It’s been a few weeks since Yellow Cab officially announced it would become zTrip Taxi. How has the transition been so far?

We’re pleased with where we are with it. We’re 150 cars into this whole new rebrand. We should be done with all the cars, either purchasing new cars or painting our late model cars, by September. The app is working great. The counts aren’t crazy, but we see 11 or 12 calls a day moving over to the app side of the business, so we think we made the right decision going more app-based.

What prompted the shift from Yellow Cab, which has been around for a long time, to zTrip?

Yellow [Cab] is 103 years old and it served the city for a long time. We knew that the business model and the industry was changing. With Uber and Lyft coming into the marketplace, it changed not so much the business as the culture of the customer, and we knew that our old style of the telephone-based cab company wasn’t going to cut it. Not that we’re going to give up on traditional service.

When you spend $5 million bucks, and you’re going to buy new cars and all this, then let’s just get on with it. Let’s get better cars, more fuel-efficient cars. Let’s go more app-based. Pittsburgh didn’t need a new fleet, it really just needed a new company.

You have a new fleet of cars, but drivers are also able to use their own cars to provide rides. Are they working in tandem?

The cab company of the future is a hybrid model. If you want to keep the traditional business, you’re going to have to do a product like [zTrip’s ride sharing app] Yellow Z, where you have personal cars. Legislation just went through, and the governor signed it last week, so we’ll be able to get people to buy into the taxi company and then we’ll have our own cars. It’s going to be different than what we’ve seen going forward.

How are you trying to compete with ride services like Uber or Lyft?

We don’t do surge pricing. We accept cash and credit. We have a now or later option that lets you book up to 365 days in advance. And we’re local. What the focus groups told us was we want authentic Pittsburgh but we want you to be as good as everybody else. And that’s our challenge. If we give a Pittsburgher the same level of service [as Lyft or Uber] and we don’t surge them, then they’ll come to us. We have customers already so we don’t have to go out and do customer acquisition. What we have to do is listen to our customers and give them what they asked for.

What has been the biggest challenge introducing this to the public?

For us, actually embracing the culture change all the way through the company has probably been the biggest challenge. There will be a lot of advertising that’s been held off just to make sure that we got through these first three weeks. Next week, you’ll see a lot of advertising and social media try and get us past the next challenge, which is people walking out and going, “Is that a cab?” Because it kind of looks like the Red Bull car.

 

Checker Cab in Jacksonville replaced by zTrip ride hailing service.

Checker Cab in Jacksonville replaced by zTrip ride hailing service.

A new ride-hailing service in Jacksonville is leading to the renaming of two old standbys in the transportation world: Yellow Checker and Gator cab companies of Jacksonville will officially be called zTrip as of Tuesday.

The company zTrip is similar to other personal transportation services such as Uber and Lyft in that a mobile phone application is used to hail a ride, but the vehicles can also be hailed on the street by riders in the traditional fashion of waving down a taxi. Already present in several cities, zTrip will not only be offering the mobile app service, but Checker and Gator cabs in Jacksonville will be changing their names to follow the zTrip branding.

That means the traditional Checker and Gator cab vehicles familiar with riders will go from the yellow and checked motif to silver paint with the zTrip logo which has a red “z” and black lettering for the “Trip” part of the logo, said Bill George, president of Transdev On Demand, owner of zTrip, Gator Cab and Checker Cab.

“We started the zTrip app about five years ago. … It’s more than just a paint job. It’s complete use of technology,” George said.

The app is fully integrated into taxi cellphone dispatching systems, he said.

Boulder, Colo., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas, have already had Yellow Cab service converted.

The zTrip cars will still be considered taxicabs, but the company will also offer unmarked cars, which are more standard in Uber and Lyft services.

“They have all the capabilities of a cab; you can still hop into one. We offer flexibility of payment; you can pay the driver in cash or credit card or through the app,” George said. Uber is paid automatically through the smartphone application.

“We also allow you to book us now or book us later,” George said. Uber is virtually on-demand and comes immediately when hailed. George said riders can reserve a zTrip ride several hours in advance.

Another feature of Uber and Lyft services is that they normally have lower fares. But George said the zTrip service is different from Uber or Lyft because zTrip does not do “surge pricing,” which increases fares during peak times of use.

“On a basis when they’re not surging, they [Uber and Lyft] can be cheaper. On the average trip, they might be a dollar or two cheaper, but when they surge they’re more expensive,” George said.

George said zTrip realizes there is still brand identity with the traditional taxis, so not all of them will disappear.

“When we change over a fleet, we put a host of new vehicles in there. In Jacksonville, we’ve added a bunch of new vans,” George said. “What we don’t do is paint over the yellow vehicles. There’s still some brand identity there.”

George said with the transition of the company and services added in with the fleet conversion and marketing, the project is costing the company $2.8 million.

“It’s a tremendous undertaking, but one that we get very positive results” in the cities that have already undergone the conversion, George said.

The alternative ride-hailing services have met with some controversy in many cities, including Jacksonville.

Jacksonville has failed to force Uber and Lyft and their drivers to follow the same regulations required of taxi drivers, which include vehicle inspections, background checks of drivers, and annual licensing fees. The city had demanded that the companies stop their operations, and issued a limited number of citations to the companies and their drivers.

Uber and Lyft officials maintain that they perform their own background checks. Despite those efforts, Jacksonville city officials said that they, along with other cities in the state, are looking to the Florida Legislature to settle the issue with an umbrella state law. But no such measures have been implemented.

George said the zTrip drivers are licensed professionals who receive background checks that include fingerprinting.

An email sent to Uber seeking comment was not returned Monday.

Drew Dixon: (904) 359-4098

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Free cab rides in Colorado Springs and Pueblo for New Year’s Eve.

Free cab rides in Colorado Springs and Pueblo for New Year’s Eve.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The McDivitt Law Firm is making it easy for people to get a safe ride home as we say goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018.

The law firm is offering its Safe Ride Home program from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday in Colorado Springs and Pueblo for New Year’s Eve. The firm will pick up the tab for anyone taking a cab ride to their home during those hours.

All you have to do is call a cab through zTrip or City Cab of Pueblo and say, “It’s on McDivitt.” The passengers must be heading home. The law firm says due to the high demand of cab rides on New Year’s Eve, rides cannot be guaranteed to everyone, although every attempt will be made to fulfill all requests.

Colorado Springs
Call zTrip of Colorado Springs at (719) 777-7777. Riders can also use the zTrip app to call for a cab. To ensure the ride is paid for by McDivitt, select “pay in car” when ordering a car. Once the car arrives, just tell the driver, “It’s on McDivitt.”

Pueblo and Pueblo West 
Call City Cab of Pueblo at (719) 543-2525.

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