# Veteran black car service launches app — without surge pricing or 5-star rating



## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

*Veteran black car service launches app - without surge pricing or 5-star ratings - to compete with Uber*

*http://www.geekwire.com/2014/black-crown-service-uber/#disqus_thread*


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> *Veteran black car service launches app - without surge pricing or 5-star ratings - to compete with Uber*
> 
> *http://www.geekwire.com/2014/black-crown-service-uber/#disqus_thread*


Chi1,

Thanks for the news post. Good to see that owner is participating in the discussion. As I've previously stated, there will be better companies coming in to fill the void from UBER's wake. We just have to be patient. Customers who really need car service on an ongoing basis are not that thrilled with UBER and they will migrate towards something else.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

@stuber 
I can't wait till other big fleet operators unite and offer an integrated App. Did you notice Crown Car App only charges $2 flat per Fare to the Driver vs 28% commission for UberBLACK!
Do you know what the commission is for UberSUV...is it 30%?


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

UBER has marketing power. This has resulted in creating critical mass. Lots of customer demand and lots of drivers to meet that demand. This is a huge obstacle for competitors. But the entire enterprise hinges on keeping drivers happy. In this they are failing miserably. Sooner or later they will be unable to maintain their fleet. Dissatisfied drivers are leaving and the on-boarding pace will subside.

At that point, they'll would have to change their ways. But they won't get out in front and fix their problems ahead of time. They don't really care about long term.

All they care about is rapid and massive expansion.


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## grUBBER (Sep 11, 2014)

How are they going to pay for scheduled pickups?
The driver needs to drop everything an hour or two before pickup to be available. It should add at least an hour worth of lost profits to the price

The other thing is their $2 fees.
While they use licensed limos with their own insurance and licensing, it works, but when they add a rideshare, their expenses will rise and 20% fees will be added to those discount rates.


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

grUBBER said:


> How are they going to pay for scheduled pickups?
> The driver needs to drop everything an hour or two before pickup to be available. It should add at least an hour worth of lost profits to the price


Scheduled work is more expensive. Customers pay more for it. At least that's how it's supposed to work. The scheduled jobs can work along side of the demand jobs, but the key is that drivers need to have the customer destinations presented prior to accepting a job. This is necessary regardless.

I cannot have scheduled jobs AND be available in between for demand jobs unlessI know where customers are going. Otherwise I have to log out in advance of scheduled jobs.


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> @stuber
> I can't wait till other big fleet operators unite and offer an integrated App. Did you notice Crown Car App only charges $2 flat per Fare to the Driver vs 28% commission for UberBLACK!
> Do you know what the commission is for UberSUV...is it 30%?


28%


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

stuber said:


> Scheduled work is more expensive. Customers pay more for it. At least that's how it's supposed to work. The scheduled jobs can work along side of the demand jobs, but the key is that drivers need to have the customer destinations presented prior to accepting a job. This is necessary regardless.
> 
> I cannot have scheduled jobs AND be available in between for demand jobs unlessI know where customers are going. Otherwise I have to log out in advance of scheduled jobs.


2.0 to 2.5 hours in advance most times


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*NY Operator Enables Limo Reservations Via BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad*

*http://www.lctmag.com/technology/ne...-limo-reservations-via-blackberry-iphone-ipad*


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*Boston Coach

https://www.bostoncoach.com/mobile*


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*New E-Hail App In Use Among Las Vegas Limo Fleets*

*http://www.lctmag.com/technology/news/107623/new-e-hail-app-in-use-among-las-vegas-limo-fleets*


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*GroundLink*
*Car Service App*

*https://www.groundlink.com/car-service-app*


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## Soto (Sep 27, 2014)

grUBBER said:


> How are they going to pay for scheduled pickups?
> The driver needs to drop everything an hour or two before pickup to be available. It should add at least an hour worth of lost profits to the price
> 
> The other thing is their $2 fees.
> While they use licensed limos with their own insurance and licensing, it works, but when they add a rideshare, their expenses will rise and 20% fees will be added to those discount rates.


Reservations; We maintain enough supply on the system. Reservations are dispatched out 20 min ahead of time. Keep in mind we have live 24/7 dispatchers watching over the cue.

Rideshare; We may be on to a better insurance model. We are currently working woth some providers. We would not raise our cut.

Cheers, 
Soto


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

G


Soto said:


> Reservations; We maintain enough supply on the system. Reservations are dispatched out 20 min ahead of time. Keep in mind we have live 24/7 dispatchers watching over the cue.
> 
> Rideshare; We may be on to a better insurance model. We are currently working woth some providers. We would not raise our cut.
> 
> ...


Good for you Soto. Message me directly if you want help expanding to my market(location private). UBER is not invincible. Do what they are not doing.


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## Soto (Sep 27, 2014)

stuber said:


> G
> 
> Good for you Soto. Message me directly if you want help expanding to my market(location private). UBER is not invincible. Do what they are not doing.


Fell free to email me direct. I'm always down to chat.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> @stuber
> I can't wait till other big fleet operators unite and offer an integrated App. Did you notice Crown Car App only charges $2 flat per Fare to the Driver vs 28% commission for UberBLACK!
> Do you know what the commission is for UberSUV...is it 30%?


Sadly, the options for good reservation software are still really dismal. Some of the most stable systems require in-house hardware, that is a throwback to the 90s at best. It is really difficult to get a system which can handle group events, individual reservations, bus scheduling, and phone app capabilities. That tech sector is ripe for growth. Our company's plan is to allow drivers to log in between scheduled runs, and do short trips on demand in town. That is, of course, once we get the city of Austin to lift their ridiculous reservation requirements. We are still exploring the mobile app options. There are a few out there, but it would be best if a large number of operators in the city all join in on one system. And anyone who deals with a lot of operators know that is like herding cats  there are some operators in town who still treat their chauffeurs like children, and micromanage every thing for them. We don't run our company like that, our drivers are in touch with the reservation system, they are all very well-versed in logistics, so for us, running dual systems could be an option.


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## Soto (Sep 27, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> Sadly, the options for good reservation software are still really dismal. Some of the most stable systems require in-house hardware, that is a throwback to the 90s at best. It is really difficult to get a system which can handle group events, individual reservations, bus scheduling, and phone app capabilities. That tech sector is ripe for growth. Our company's plan is to allow drivers to log in between scheduled runs, and do short trips on demand in town. That is, of course, once we get the city of Austin to lift their ridiculous reservation requirements. We are still exploring the mobile app options. There are a few out there, but it would be best if a large number of operators in the city all join in on one system. And anyone who deals with a lot of operators know that is like herding cats  there are some operators in town who still treat their chauffeurs like children, and micromanage every thing for them. We don't run our company like that, our drivers are in touch with the reservation system, they are all very well-versed in logistics, so for us, running dual systems could be an option.


Our system was developed from the ground up. I used my own car service for beta testing. We cover no less than 9 algorithms for how reservations are handled. It's pretty rad. So far so good. We also have a live dispatcher managing the cue 24/7 for that extra human common sense.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> *Veteran black car service launches app - without surge pricing or 5-star ratings - to compete with Uber*
> 
> *http://www.geekwire.com/2014/black-crown-service-uber/#disqus_thread*


There goes surge pricing!


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

We had some really miserable experiences with ground link, I would never recommend them to anyone. That of course is my own perspective, perhaps yours is different.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

UberCemetery said:


> *New E-Hail App In Use Among Las Vegas Limo Fleets*


The last I heard that was only good in Vegas (?)


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

UberCemetery said:


> *Boston Coach *


Are. They selling their reservation system? I know that Empire CLS was supposed to be selling their Madkota, they talked a big game, I signed up for beta, it seems to have dried up


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

Soto said:


> Our system was developed from the ground up. I used my own car service for beta testing. We cover no less than 9 algorithms for how reservations are handled. It's pretty rad. So far so good. We also have a live dispatcher managing the cue 24/7 for that extra human common sense.


Is the plan for them to handle dispatching of drivers in other cities? That makes my head spin!!! Hehe!

For us, we believe that the best way will be to let our drivers log on to a dispatch app, and take on-demand runs based on their availability between regular reservations. But like I said in another thread, some operators don't run their business with that much power in the drivers seat. I think any company trying to run both ways must have drivers with really good logistics sense. We are very lucky. Most of our staff our former military, they are totally on the ball.

I swear, I don't know how cab drivers handle picking someone up, and not knowing where they are taking them. My hat is off to anyone who can thrive in that environment!


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## Soto (Sep 27, 2014)

Definitely going to other cities, and will also be available as a white label for other certain fleets as well. 

I totally get what you're saying. We actually have a couple day guys that prefer to take the bulk of the reservations out of the system, then login in between as you were saying. I like to give the drivers the option for sure. Did you say you are in Austin?


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

Yes (I've emailed you today!!)


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> The last I heard that was only good in Vegas (?)


Yes Vegas only for now. Per the website tapping into more cities soon.

http://ridegenie.com/

*Nine companies get OK to charge for Ride Genie*

*http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/traffic-transportation/nine-companies-get-ok-charge-ride-genie*


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*Harrison Global Buys Boston Coach From Fidelity*
*
http://www.lctmag.com/operations/news/42293/harrison-global-buys-boston-coach-from-fidelity*


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

BC is a tight affiliate network . Gotta be a big dog to hang on their porch 

But their rates are pretty high because of the affiliate layer. I wonder how long they will remain competitive, if they really are now. I know our clients pay nearly twice as much to book a ride through them. (Lol that's why they are now our clients!!!) no one wants to pay more then $100 to get picked up at an airport to go 15 miles these days. Sure, there are a few really wealthy people who don't care, but many corporate executives do care.


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## UberCemetery (Sep 4, 2014)

*Old-School Car Services Going New-School To Combat Uber*

*http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthic...car-services-going-new-school-to-combat-uber/*


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

Personally, I wish crown much success. I just hope he stays the course with legal, permitted drivers. I also wish people would drop the "RIDESHARE " nonsense :-(


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> I also wish people would drop the "RIDESHARE " nonsense :-(


Not going to happen.
No putting the genie back in the bottle.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

I mean using that term. There are legitimate ridesharing organizations which are successfully getting that term stripped from public documentation. Furthermore, I have found, in Austin at least, that some in the public have not taken kindly to being misled. Those who don't have dogs in the fight believed news stories at first, and thought "my god, who is opposed to carpooling ?" Once they realized this was not carpooling, they turned on these TNCs.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> There are legitimate ridesharing organizations which are successfully getting that term stripped from public documentation.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Tx rides said:


> Those who don't have dogs in the fight believed news stories at first, and thought "my god, who is opposed to carpooling ?" Once they realized this was not carpooling, they turned on these TNCs.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

CARMA took major exception to this term in Austin. Furthermore, with Uber using the entrepreneurial selling point, they are completely destroying their "rideshare" scam which is how they took a stronghold in many cities in the first place. Again, really crappy business tactics. Even if one believes that privately owned car service can and should be allowed, they are extremely skeptical, and that number of skeptics seems to be growing across the world because of their tactics. Personally, as somewhat of an objectivist at heart, I take issue with those who claim Kalonick is of that belief system. He is no Reardon.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

I'm going to start tweeting links to on topic threads on this forum to office holders in every jurisdiction where Uber is seeking regulatory approval.
Uber you've been put on notice: 
*Start Treating Your Drivers As Assets, Not Disposable Commodity* or expect additional blowback from regulators and legislators etc


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

They are tone deaf in Austin. It is quite amazing to me, since they consider themselves the liberal Mecca of America. I told a few of them, when Daily Kos people think this is a bad deal, for God's sake you really need to stop and pay attention!!! Lol after all, that is a large part of their voter base.

I have told several of the city Council and urban transportation committee that they need to be following this aspect. They are encouraging more drunks to party in Austin, oblivious to the fact that their proposed solution may not be sustainable. I specifically asked them in an email "how will you handle twice as many drunks with half as many drivers one year from now?"


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

My mind is officially blown.


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