Flywheel's phone-based taxi meter arrives in NYC
It only used to be available in select cities on the West Coast.
Flywheel is giving taxis in New York City the modern touch. The company is bringing its software meter and app-based hailing system to the Big Apple after its initial release in a handful of cities last year. TaxiOS puts a cab's navigation, payment, meter and dispatch system on a single phone. It can automatically calculate fares, including tolls, split the total amount between passengers, accept credit card and cash payments and email receipts to customers. Plus, it will allow taxis in the city to accept app payments made through Flywheel's Uber-like ride-hailing app even if you flag them down in the street.
"New York City is the heart of the taxi industry in the U.S., but its drivers and passengers have been left in the dark with outdated technology for quite some time," the company said in a statement. "Now that TaxiOS has been approved for citywide operation, we're giving NYC Yellow Cabs the tools needed to compete with rideshare giants. By providing drivers with a smartphone, we're getting rid of the outdated, and frankly, annoying technology currently in cabs."
Flywheel is rolling out TaxiOS to a thousand cabs in the Big Apple by the end of the year, making NYC its seventh location after San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Sacramento and Portland. Besides modernizing the taxi meter, the startup also plans to launch a backseat entertainment system for cabs that will allow passengers to enjoy "personalized content, social channels and more" later this year.
