Uber has had a rocky ride since its launch in Australia, from taxi protests to drivers having their vehicle registration suspended. Uber’s woes went as far as Canberra announcing that it would introduce legislation regulating Uber and other ridesharing services in Australia.
Many have shunned Uber and settled for alternative services. This was a great opportunity for TickToc’s founder John Sajadi to offer a better alternative to the existing ridesharing services. The idea started while he was running a hire car business, where he decided to try his hand at driving for Uber. Through his personal experience and the first-hand feedback from issues that passengers and drivers were facing, he teamed up with Al Sajady to create a new app called TickToc.
TickToc looks to provide a new alternative to services like Cabcharge and goCatch for passengers who prefer taxis or hire cars, rather than competing directly with Uber. According to the founders, TickTock was the better alternative to provide advanced technologies that would ensure increased safety and a better customer experience for the taxi and hire car industry needs.
The passenger app enables a passenger to register using a mobile number, email address, and payment details. Their account is given a unique barcode that replaces the taxi meter by calculating fares through GPS. A registered passenger can book cards on demand or book for a specific date and time, and the system would send out all the details available about their driver an hour before their booking.
TickToc checks all the driver’s accreditation and inspects their cars before they are given authorisation to receive bookings. It also offers a unique rating system where riders can rate drivers and favourite a trip and driver. The system will then prioritise drivers based on these ratings.
An added barcode system works by having the driver app read the customer’s barcode, and uploads their details into their own app and vice versa. The customer then accepts by clicking before starting a journey and a GPS feature would record and saves all the details of the journey for safety purposes.
The startup is based in Melbourne and founded by John Sajadi and CFO Al Sajady. The app has seen a few hundred drivers come on board so far. The startup has entered into a partnership with Melbourne’s Executive Limousines and looks to secure more investments in order to expand into NSW and around Australia by next year.
[Source] Melbourne startup TickToc looks to provide passengers with another alternative to Uber and goCatch
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