The success of any startup gets judged by the impact it creates on the local businesses. But, when a startup injects a disruptive change in almost every industry worldwide, the success is unparalleled.
Ridesharing apps like Uber have successfully created such an impact globally. These apps have transformed the way we travel and taxi services more economical and luxurious.
Ridesharing is cost-effective, efficient, and environment-friendly. Therefore, the concept got accepted overwhelmingly with open arms. Widely-known ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have become household brands that deliver high-quality service and the perfect customer experience.
Since the turn of the last decade, the Rideshare market has generated immense traction. Therefore, if you decide to venture into this business, you will be in for rapid growth.
So, what does it require to build a fully-functional, user-friendly ride-sharing app? Let’s find out.
What is a Ride-Sharing App?
Ride-Sharing applications differ from traditional taxi services. The significant difference is that a ride-sharing app lets you find a rider sharing the same route or heading to the same destination. Ridesharing insinuates splitting the fare, which results in considerable cost-saving.
There are different types of ride-sharing apps. Primarily,
- Ride-Sharing wherein the driver of rideshare vehicles can share the car with a person heading to the same destination.
- Carpooling wherein the driver alongside a group of people ride to the same destination without paying a third-party.
- Peer-To-Peer Car Sharing wherein car owners have an option to rent their cars for a fixed rental fee and for a set amount of time.
Working of a Ride-Sharing App
Rideshare apps follow a particular mechanism for functioning smoothly:
- Requesting: A rider sends a request to the nearest driver available.
- Driver/Rider Matching: The driver receiving the request has the option to either accept or decline.
- Ride Hosting: The passenger can opt to share the ride with others heading to the same route. Hosting a ride depends on the routes, pick-up, and drop-off locations of every passenger.
- Ride Begins: The ride begins once the host accepts all passenger requests for sharing the ride.
- Payment: Passengers can choose to pay either with cash or through a cashless medium. Since the ride is shared, the fares get split equally depending on the distance traveled.
- Rating the Ride: Ridesharing Apps provide the option to rate both the accompanying passengers and drivers. This rating will affect both their profiles and, in some cases, even affect their future ride-sharing options.
User Roles & Features of a Ride-Sharing App
A ride-sharing app consists of 3 core users/elements:
- Mobile App for Riders: An Android & iOS app wherein a passenger can request and book a ride conveniently.
- Mobile App for Drivers: An Android or iOS app used by the drivers for executing the rides.
- An Administrative Panel: The central control web-panel for managing riders, drivers, requests & the marketplace.
The amalgamation of these core elements makes this on-demand service a success. Let’s try and understand each aspect in-depth by analyzing each separate set of features.
Features of the Rider App
User-Friendly Registration
The first interface that the user will interact with within your app will be the registration portal. You must ensure that this interface provides the facility for account creation using contact numbers or linking Facebook or Google accounts.
Since customers will be entering their personal information, this interface must get encrypted for high-level security.
Pick-Up & Drop-Off
Once the rider creates an account, the first thing they would do is find a ride. For making the process easy, you must provide search boxes wherein the user will enter their pick-up and drop-off location. The aim is to offer timely results while ensuring user-friendliness.
Real-Time Tracking
As soon as the rider requests a ride, a real-time tracking system’s instant activation is necessary. Usually, apps provide integrated Google maps API to track the driver’s location. This GPS tracking eliminates any inconvenience or confusion, especially in cases where multiple riders are involved.
Split Payment Calculation
Since it is a shared ride, the fare should also get equally distributed. The payment must depend upon the individual distance traveled by a particular rider to avoid any additional expense. This feature adds to the user experience significantly.
Information About Other Passengers
A feature that allows a passenger to see the profiles or details of other passengers with whom they will be sharing their ride. As a result, a level of security and trust gets built among passengers.
Driver Details
A feature that displays the complete driver profile along with the feedback received from other riders.
Hassle-Free Ride Cancellation
The app should provide a flexible interface wherein the rider can cancel a ride without wasting any time. You can add a specific ride cancellation time-frame within which a cancellation fee will not get charged.
In-App Help Center
The help center acts as an imperative feature for any ride-sharing app as it is the foundation stone regarding robust security. In case of any lost item, driver behavior issues, payment issues, or any form of mishap, the rider should be able to report through the app directly.
Chat System
To directly communicate with the driver via the app.
Push Notifications
Push notifications are an excellent feature for interacting and engaging the user from time to time. With this feature, customers get informed of all the necessary details such as car information, ride status, estimated arrival time, estimated travel time, discounts/offers, etc.
Rating/Review
A feature to enable customers to rate and provide feedback on their ride experience.
Features of the Driver App
Driver-Friendly Registration
The driver app should contain an easy account creation process without a host of technicalities. You can also add the same Facebook and Google login or registration through a contact number.
Accept/Decline Ride Request
As per their convenience, the drivers can either accept or decline a ride request.
Trip Information of Every Rider
Since multiple riders are traveling together, drivers are highly likely to get confused. Therefore, every rider’s trip information should get displayed over the driver’s interface. It will further help them synchronize the pick-ups and drop-offs with ease.
GPS for Route Navigation
Providing a built-in GPS will not only help the driver reach every rider’s location in time but also help them in discovering the shortest route possible. As a result, you would never have to worry about the drivers visiting a specific place for the first time.
Chat System
To directly communicate with every rider via the app.
Automated Fare Calculation & Payment Options
At the end of every ride, the app will auto-calculate the fare. The app should provide the driver with the facility to either mark a payment received by cash or paid through a card.
Features of the Admin Panel
Driver & Vehicle Management
Admins can screen and approve any new drivers or if the vehicles getting used are level with the company’s standards.
All the fine details covered like the year of manufacturing, model, insurance start and end date, insurance value, mileage-wise number of services done, future service schedule, etc.
Payment Management
Contains the accumulation of details like who submitted the cash, cash amount, period, etc.
Receipt generation at the end of every ride and automatically sync it with the driver app to show the total amount collected for that trip.
Rating/Review & Complaint Management
A feature that helps admins keep track of every driver’s performance and, if any complaint arises, react, and respond to it immediately.
Dashboard & Reports
An admin dashboard- that displays all the key stats such as notifications, metrics, management, email templates, to name a few.
Reports- that display KPI performance Report, Daily Collection, Daily Vehicle Utilization, Earning Report, Driver Performance, Hourly Vehicle Utilization, etc.
Salary Generation & Invoicing
Salary generation of every driver and handling all the customer invoicing.
Trip Tracking
Keeping track of the amount of time for which a vehicle is idle and not driving.
Notification generation if any vehicle is idle for five or more minutes, along with the driver’s details driving that particular vehicle.
Some Advanced Features for Enhanced User-Experience
Multilingual App
A multilingual app expands the reach of an app to a broader audience and adds to its scalability.
SOS Button for Emergencies
Whether it is the driver’s or rider’s fault, both should be provided with the facility to report any emergency in real-time for immediate help. This feature will build a strong sense of security and trust among the users.
Advanced Ride Scheduling
The facility to schedule a ride in advance saves time and makes it convenient for both riders and drivers.
Facility to Mark Favorite Locations
When riders visit a particular location quite frequently, it will be convenient for them to mark it so that they don’t have to type it every time.
Tipping Drivers
A feature that only helps a driver earn more but also encourages and motivates them to perform better.
An Offline Mode
Smooth internet connection is not accessible everywhere. When a driver enters a low-network area, the app must facilitate accessibility to start and end a trip even on bad internet connections.
Voice-Based Ride Requests
This functionality goes a long way in assisting specially-abled people & can even result in fast bookings.
“Spot Me” Feature
The app can facilitate a rider’s phone screen to display a specific color assigned to that driver. To quickly get spotted at their pick-up location, a rider can hold up their phone so that their driver can find them.
Leave Management
The admin can manage all the driver leaves from their admin panel.
Notable Things to Keep in Mind While Building a Ride-Sharing App
A ride-sharing app is financially helpful for both the service provider and the customer. However, there are some fundamentals to consider before developing the app-
Researching Phase
A thorough understanding of the industry is essential. You must be aware of the present and upcoming trends, how the industry will evolve, demography to target the right audience, and a deeper understanding of the niche.
Selection of Technology
For building an app that will potentially contain a database of millions of users, technology plays a vital role. Choose a proven technology that can simultaneously withstand this traffic and provide a high level of security.
UI/UX Design
Crafting an interactive, eye-catching, yet simple UI/UX design ensures user-friendly navigation and attracts more audience.
Cost of Building a Ride-Sharing App
The overall cost of developing a rideshare app depends on several factors, such as:
- The choice of app development platform: Android, iOS, or a cross-platform architecture.
- Employing a team consisting of a project manager, Android developer, iOS developer, Frontend developer, Backend developer, UX/UI designer, and QA engineer.
- The entire project tech stack.
In Conclusion, Building a ride-sharing app requires patience and dedication as it will not result in success overnight. Take inspiration from all the functionalities mentioned above and combine them with your innovative ideas to create the modern competitor to ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft.
If you plan to venture and develop a ride-sharing app but are not technically sound, look no further than 6DegreesIT. Our professional team of developers and designers possesses years of experience using modern technologies to create a feature-rich and highly-secure ride-sharing app with a seamless user experience, yielding a profit for all the parties involved.
Contact us today!
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