
Square Gets Approved for New York City Taxicab Pilot - sethbannon
http://allthingsd.com/20120301/square-gets-approved-for-new-york-city-taxicab-pilot/
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untog
Very interesting development. You can already pay by card in NYC so that
functionality isn't going to be anything exciting for riders.

However, the opportunity for apps is huge- right now there's just a dumb TV
terminal in the cab that plays the same horrible videos over and over. I've
been working on a taxi-based app (<http://www.taxono.my/> \- I'll stop
mentioning it in every post I make soon) that would go _fantastically_ into a
Square-attached tablet. But I'm not sure what they'll allow and what they
won't, at this point. I imagine there might be a hefty fee involved...

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Terretta
Sincere good luck. I was involved in developing one of the first NY cab video
+ credit card hardware designs in the early 00s. We actually built it into an
real yellow cab that, entertainingly, I got park in my driveway and drive
around during the venture (on loan from one of the largest fleet owners).

We combined 16:9 screen, ATM keys, tap-and-go card reader, and traditional
card stripe swipe, into a self contained unit mounted into the safety panel.

You could mute it (of course). It played a safety PSA, then let you
figuratively "change the channel" to show you up-to-date video clips per your
interest -- sports, news, weather, broadway promos, etc. -- or a GPS map of
the cab's location in the city. A key innovation let us update the videos on
the fly in all the cabs without requiring a SD card swap or a cellular data
charge.

Great backers, but project got killed in a TLC political maneuver. It's a
challenging industry to try to break into and try to change. The devices you
see deployed in Vegas, Chicago, and NYC, are mostly hamstrung in various ways
that often cost the cabbies or annoy riders. It's disappointing to see, but if
someone can muster both the tech and the political clout, it's still ripe for
disruption.

Square might have that chance.

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Drbble
? The system you describe is exactly what is in NYC cabs right now. Maybe you
you were just ahead of your time.

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Terretta
What's in cabs today is about 4x as expensive, bulkier, less durable, the user
has less control, and the video content doesn't get refreshed on the fly. Our
business plan offered a lower processing fee, paid into a health fund for
cabbies, and had other financial bonuses to fleets, cabbies, and the city.

There were about a half dozen "competing" systems (hardware and business
model) at the time. A couple of the others got adopted and their progeny are
what you see in cabs in NYC now. We were backed by some of the best known
finance, ad, and government money, but the decision was neither technical nor
based on cost to cab owners or even cost to fleets.

As I said, I hope Square can disrupt that situation.

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bunderbunder
Last time I was in New York, the cab driver who gave me a lift from the
airport mentioned to me the fee charged by the processing system they
currently use. I don't remember the exact number he gave, but I remember it
sounded very high to me. If Square charges cab drivers the same price they
charge me, this could be a very good thing for NYC cabbies.

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callmeed
Interesting ... I was just in Vegas and noticed that the credit card cabs hit
the passenger with the processing fee. I believe it was $2 or $3.

I've also noticed in general that cabbies simply don't like credit card
customers.

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danso
The cabbies raised a ruckus when credits cards were introduced...however, data
shows that when rides were cash only, cabbies received 10% tips. With credit
cards, the average was 22%. Hard to complain about that:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/nyregion/08taxi.html>

The Times also reported that the fact that cabs have cards - and livery cars
do not - may have helped the taxi industry while hurting the private car
business. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/nyregion/25taxis.html>

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bunderbunder
Bet they get more rides, too.

I'm much more willing to catch a cab in NYC than I am in Chicago or Milwaukee,
because I usually don't carry enough cash for a ride and I'm usually not in
the mood to squabble with the driver. I swear, I can usually walk to my
destination in the time it takes to watch a Chicago cabbie pantomime with the
card reader in an effort to convince me it's broken.

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198d
If you're not too short, they usually take the cash over the card. You get a
cheap ride and they don't get all pissy. I do it all the time.

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tjsnyder
This is useless when every cab driver that picks you up will just claim the
machine is broken. This is not even just me complaining. I believe the market
is going to be difficult to break due to cabbie habits.

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untog
I've lived in New York for three years and this has only happened to me once.
I'm not convinced it's that huge a deal.

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daeken
I've lived in New York for about a year and a half and up until this month, I
was taking cabs at least twice a day. I've had them pull the broken credit
card machine excuse maybe 3 or 4 times. Obviously anecdotal, but it was so
infrequent as to be a complete non-issue, and with the number of cabs on the
road, it never actually caused me any problems.

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notJim
I wonder if they'll be using the same checkout devices as everwhere else. From
what I've seen, the Square device is kind of flimsy looking and difficult to
use. The device in a taxi cab needs to be able to handle a lot of abuse.

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hack_edu
Why add another layer of fees? What utility does this provide? Why must you
install, register, and have to open an app for each purchase when you can just
use existing, bulletproof tech?

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r00fus
You assume the existing system isn't laden with corruption and unrealistic
fees. What's likely happened is that Square recognizes it can undercut some
other (company|companies) too cozy in their operations and steal their lunch.

Otherwise, adoption and success would fare poorly - Square don't sound like
they're desperate or stupid.

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mathattack
The city does seem serious about this. Best to get it done before Bloomberg is
out!

