With the economy as turbulent as it is, most people are trying to save a few bucks whatever way they can. CabEasy, a 1-man startup that launched earlier this month, is looking to help people save some cash on their Taxi rides. The site allows people to post a public listing of their upcoming taxi travel plans, and pair up with someone else who is traveling a similar route to split the ride.
The concept is very similar to Hitchsters, a startup that helps pair up travelers so that they can share a limo on the way to the airport for a fraction of the cost they would normally pay. Hitchsters has plans to expand beyond airport travelers (including events like ball games), but at this point these options aren’t available. And, unlike CabEasy, Hitchsters only offers support for a few cities.
CabEasy has more flexibility, but the site is clearly still in its infancy, and lacks the functionality that would make it useful for a large audience. For one, there isn’t an easy way to search for upcoming trips within a certain radius – you’ll need to look on the map and check for yourself (this works fine now, but if CabEasy ever establishes a sizable user base it would get confusing). I also question how often this will come in handy – most people rarely plan out their cab trips in advance unless they’re going to catch a flight. If CabEasy gets big enough that it’s always easy to find a match, then it would be a great service. But until then, most people probably won’t invest the time needed to check out the site if there’s only a small chance it will be of any use.
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