I'm on my 35th week of pregnancy and commuting is now a big challenge to me. I cannot even lift myself to ride a bus without exerting too much effort. I know walking is good for me but too much is just too much. We do not have a car and even if we have one, I wouldn't trust myself driving along EDSA. My only choice now, although a bit expensive, is to ride a taxi going to and from the office. But I live in the metro, and we all know how hard it is to get a ride during peak hours. Good thing I discovered the Easy Taxi app.
At first I thought, hey this is just new. Maybe only few taxis are registered to this app and instead of making things easier, I might just end up frustrated. Plus, do all the drivers have internet mobiles? But what do you know? The first time I tried it, it was efficient and there were relatively more taxis registered than I can imagine! Of course I had to make a few attempts in requesting, and there's also the waiting factor for the taxi to arrive once your request was accepted. But the though that the taxi is specifically reserved to you and no other passengers can steal it from you is way beyond relief! Their drivers would even call you to confirm their location. They also have operators that would make a follow up if their passengers were indeed picked up. And with this I feel safer knowing that we, the driver and I, are being monitored.
Requesting is very easy! But your mobile needs to be online.
Here's a documentary of my request from tracking the driver assigned to me to actually sending out feedback after boarding:
I provided my pick-up point and my destination. The app can also automatically locate where you are. But since most map applications do not always provide the exact location, I made sure to give detailed information so the driver won't be confused. You will see all the available Easy Taxis around you.
Once a driver has accepted, the app will alert you together with the driver's photo, his contact number, and an option for you to call. Sometimes, the drivers themselves would call me to confirm my ride. My only suggestion on this part is that I hope they can provide a way to just text the drivers. Calling them using the same line affects my signal and internet connection. The app sometimes disconnects whenever I do that so my tendency is to request for another taxi. Lately I've been using my company phone to call instead. Here you can also see how far the driver is from you :) I am so grateful that I can track his location. I tend to look for a comfortable place to sit while waiting and when he's already near, that would be the time that I would stand up and place myself in a visible lane for him to easily see me.
Here the app tells me that the requested taxi has arrived. I just have to confirm if I indeed boarded the taxi. Sometimes, an operator would even call me to verify if I was indeed picked-up. So very thoughtful of them.
A survey at the end to implicitly tell us that they value our feedback. I suggest you should really take this opportunity to share your thoughts and feedback. :)
See? I always make sure to complete the whole process until the last step. You can opt to skip this part if you want.
Just a tip, request in advance to lessen the waiting time. I usually make my request before leaving my desk at the office so I wouldn't wait that long for the taxi to arrive.
So far, all the Easy Taxi drivers I've encountered are friendly and very considerate. I hope they won't change. By the way, an additional Php70 booking fee is collected when you request a taxi through the Easy Taxi app. But the good news is that they have a promo running from May to June 5 - no booking fee for every request you make. So why not take advantage while you still can! I have been using the Easy Taxi app for a couple of times now.
