OXFORD, United Kingdom-The frustration of trying to find a London taxi cab should shortly be greatly reduced, according to the makers of the vehicles, Manganese Bronze Holdings, who say they have reached agreements with Vodafone and MmO2 to introduce the Zingo taxi hailing service.
The service, which should become available in the second quarter, is designed to enable cell-phone users to hail the nearest taxi using their cell phones. Upon receiving an inquiry, the Zingo service finds the nearest cab using global positioning system (GPS) technology and directs the driver to the person making the request. Manganese, which plans to invest about 7.4 million euro (US$7.7 million) this year in Zingo, said it would earn revenue through a telephone booking fee, weekly rental of the taxi terminals by drivers, credit card commissions and cell-phone call revenue.
Manganese, which has seen the sales of its taxi cabs fall by nearly 30 percent in December compared with the same month in 2001, said it is negotiating with other cell phone operators in the United Kingdom to enable the Zingo service for its users.
