Taxi services provide transport for individuals and small to large groups. The best part about the taxi services is that they are available at competitive rates. Many taxi companies have tie-ups with other transport companies like Hertz, Budget, and Acela to provide a better ride for clients. With a number of transportation companies, it is not difficult to find affordable taxi service transportation.
There are several transport companies in the city of Mumbai; however, none of them provide reliable and affordable transportation. Due to these problems, the taxi services have faced problems in securing cabs on the road. Most of the taxis have been stolen during the night, leaving the customers disappointed. Also, most of the vehicles provided by the taxi services are old and outdated; this is not good for the customer’s requirement.
Government initiative for taxi services
With this issue in mind, the state government has taken the initiative to provide cabs to taxi services. On average, every hour, three new cabs introduce to the roads of Mumbai. The new cabs are of the latest model and meet all the safety standards as compared to the old taxis. Also, the prices have been reduced since most of the taxi drivers working in Mumbai are earning below the stipulated salary limit.
However, not all taxi drivers are keen to accept the new models, as they are not provided with the perks and benefits that come with them. Many taxi drivers still prefer to work on the traditional taxi services. But the recent introduction of the new cabs has made them think twice. They realize that by hiring a taxi service, they can easily make more money than they make now by driving the conventional taxis on the roads. The percentage of accidents has also as on the rise, and hence, people are now inclined to use the new transport systems.
Local transport authority licenses
The government’s intervention has helped the taxi services immensely. Taxis were given licenses from the local authorities to operate independently. Previously, they had to get a license from the local transport authority and this was granted after due process of verification. However, after the introduction of taxicabs, taxi services could no longer operate independently. The local authorities could not continue to license these small-scale transport vehicles as they were not following the set rules and regulations. They were not following standards and hence, their vehicles were not fit to ply on the roads.
With the help of the government, all taxi services follow the manual handicapped accessibility guidelines. This makes it mandatory for taxis to accept wheelchair users. It also asks all taxis to fit with wheelchair lifts. Nowadays, wheelchair users can easily get access to different kinds of cabs. They can easily sit in the vehicle and go out whenever they want.
Ride-sharing services
Apart from this, they can also request ride-sharing services from taxi services. This is a new concept that came up from the bottom of the system. Instead of relying on cab and taxi cabs, there can be multiple alternative modes like bikes, buses, and rickshaws. They can use as backup modes. However, this fallback option can’t be available to everyone as not everyone has a car.
Taxi ride-sharing services are perfect for short distances. Even though it can provide rent a limo service good and comfortable transportation, but it can also provide several mixed impacts on the environment. Mostly, these ride-sharing companies do not allow emission-efficient vehicles as they consider them as high-polluting vehicles. For this reason, taxi ride-sharing can adversely affect the environment in many ways.