Ride-hailing apps have created tremendous value for both riders and drivers, but there remain critical inconveniences that go mostly unaddressed by the industry’s leading players.
Determining the best price between Uber, Lyft and others is a time-consuming process, and particularly important for longer rides with greater fare parity. And a lack of transparency into destinations can force drivers to accept long trips that don’t provide an opportunity for a return fare.
Jahan Hakimi, an entrepreneur and former Fingi Inc. executive, was looking for a new project when he found a microcosm of the issue with Uber drivers at Dulles International Airport, where the ride-hailing queue gets to 100-150 drivers long.
He asked hundreds of drivers, "Would you take a discounted fare to turn around and go back to D.C.?" And 85 percent of them said yes.
Hakimi set out to find a solution, which he and a co-founder launched Tuesday as Bid2Ride. The ride-hailing app, deploying for three months in the D.C. metro area before expanding to other cities, features a hybrid platform that combines bid-based pricing and aggregated rates.
Riders enter their destination and set their desired bid price – the app suggests bid prices that have an 85 percent chance of being accepted. Nearby drivers then view both the bid and the destination and accept or decline the ride. If no driver accepts the initial bid, the rider is guided to the Bid2Ride aggregator, which lists real-time rates for other apps.
“At the end of the day, we don’t see ourselves as a competitor to Uber and Lyft," Hakimi said. "We see ourselves as complementary to these platforms.”
He said Bid2Ride last week completed a marketing push to add users pre-launch, and several thousand have already signed up. By Tuesday's launch, more than 1,000 drivers were on the platform and ready to accept bids.
“D.C. was the perfect market for us to launch," Hamiki said. "They have the two major airports, so a lot of airport rides, and secondly they have amazing universities, so we thought our platform would really hit well with the students."
The benefits of Bid2Ride extend to the drivers, who will earn 85 percent of each fare – compared with the 60-70 percent paid out by current market leaders – and will be able to see rider destinations in advance.
“Most drivers are also Uber and Lyft drivers, and because they're 1099 independent contractors they can work for any company any time," Hamiki said. "We’re asking drivers to add us to that mix – if you see a ride that matches your destination, and it's enough money, why wouldn't you accept that bid?"
The app also will allow drivers to accept or reject as many bids as they’d like, with no cap.
Bid2Ride currently has 14 employees and is hiring, especially for operations staff in the D.C. area. It has been funded so far by several high-net-worth individuals, which Hakimi said see promise in the new app.
“There are other bidding ride-hail companies in the market, and other aggregate companies in the market," he added. "Nobody has put the two together – and we made it super user friendly.”
