In Japan, taxi services fall into broadly 2 categories,
- large to mid size fleets 2000+ and - private 'kojin' taxis
There is yet another category commonly referred to 'izakaya' taxi, these are also private taxis who work together as a network to compete with the big players.
Things to know
* all taxis are clean
* some are spotless ie washed every morning
* 75%+ are equipped with wireless radio
* 90% of cars in general in japan have gps, so it should not come as a huge suprise to see taxis who have 2 units.
* Most of the big fleets accept every credit card under the sun including certain cards from some processors not too popular elsewhere (JCB).
Some accept nfc 'type' payments from several different incompatible processors.
* In the good old days 90s - you could call a cab company and they would radio (motorola) a taxi to your location. Now the big companies have apps developed by 3rd party vendors which support points for free rides etc.
People in Tokyo prefer the subway because its quicker in most cases- So you are left with
* people use cabs to get from pt a to pt b by making an on the spur of the moment decision. i see a cab i jump in. Uber would have a problem unless the fleet was huge from the get go.
* other people who 'plan' and use a cab can easily call one of the established players. Addresses are fairly resonably defined in tokyo and gps kits are excellect after having being engineered for 10+ years. Uber would have a problem because their software is not adding any value to what incubments are offering
* then there is this segment of people who use taxis for everything- thats where the izakaya taxis come in. They provide a first class experience using luxury grade cars (think lexus++) that are able to handle the longer distance rides, they might offer you a beer, tea etc. This is a premium service, you call the cab and he has you registered if youve used hiw before so he knows you by name. If hes busy enroute with another customer, he will just route you to his buddy. They mostly have 2 smart phones to help with this and they do this while driving with off the shelf apps well configured.
All factored in Uber's traditional model is challenged. But Uber hopefully has deep pockets, they should start by buying a small fleet and focus on certain/towns.
I don't understand where this notion that 90%+ of taxis in Japan have GPS comes from. I can only think it's from people how hang out in central Tokyo.
Even at the main Shinkansen station in Osaka, there's a 50% probability that a taxi driver wont have (or wont know how to use) a GPS. I've regularly had taxi drivers dig out dogeared maps to try and figure out where I want to go.
If you give an taxi driver and address, they often take you to the general location and then need help from there.
There is yet another category commonly referred to 'izakaya' taxi, these are also private taxis who work together as a network to compete with the big players.
Things to know * all taxis are clean * some are spotless ie washed every morning * 75%+ are equipped with wireless radio * 90% of cars in general in japan have gps, so it should not come as a huge suprise to see taxis who have 2 units. * Most of the big fleets accept every credit card under the sun including certain cards from some processors not too popular elsewhere (JCB). Some accept nfc 'type' payments from several different incompatible processors. * In the good old days 90s - you could call a cab company and they would radio (motorola) a taxi to your location. Now the big companies have apps developed by 3rd party vendors which support points for free rides etc.
People in Tokyo prefer the subway because its quicker in most cases- So you are left with * people use cabs to get from pt a to pt b by making an on the spur of the moment decision. i see a cab i jump in. Uber would have a problem unless the fleet was huge from the get go.
* other people who 'plan' and use a cab can easily call one of the established players. Addresses are fairly resonably defined in tokyo and gps kits are excellect after having being engineered for 10+ years. Uber would have a problem because their software is not adding any value to what incubments are offering
* then there is this segment of people who use taxis for everything- thats where the izakaya taxis come in. They provide a first class experience using luxury grade cars (think lexus++) that are able to handle the longer distance rides, they might offer you a beer, tea etc. This is a premium service, you call the cab and he has you registered if youve used hiw before so he knows you by name. If hes busy enroute with another customer, he will just route you to his buddy. They mostly have 2 smart phones to help with this and they do this while driving with off the shelf apps well configured.
All factored in Uber's traditional model is challenged. But Uber hopefully has deep pockets, they should start by buying a small fleet and focus on certain/towns.