An FAQ which explains some of the concepts that seem to be frequently misunderstood by newcomers to the Texxi concept.

1. FAQs
Frequent Misconceptions about Texxi and
the DRT Exchange

2. But this has been done before
Actually, prior to 2006, "it" had not been done before.
Anywhere.
And not through lack of trying.
It was deemed as an insoluble problem by many transport
academics such as Jim Morris of CMU.
Even in April 2009 and later in 2010, key figures in
transport research were still claiming it was impossible.
We have proof that we achieved the "impossible"

3. There are lots of taxi hailing start-
ups
Yes there are
Hailo, Kabbee, GetTaxi, Uber, Weeels,
(just so you know we know)
Since we enable GROUPED TRAVEL, the hail by (smart)
phone is just one thing.
And it does not have to be just a car or a taxi - any vehicle.
It is a bit like saying you have invented the automobile just
because you have invented the wheel. Sure the wheel is
part of the solution, but it is not the solution in and of itself.

4. There are lots of taxi hailing start-
ups
Hailing a cab by smartphone, the web or SMS just is
not interesting and that particular problem was solved
as far back as 2002 - 2005.
We saw an example in Prague in 2005 for instance.
While a subset of our system could replicate any of
functionality the afore-mentioned companies, fortunately it
is not (only) what we do.
The most impressive getup we have seen is Limores /
Groundlink by Alex Mashinsky. That man is something
else.

5. There are lots of taxi hailing start-
ups
It becomes interesting when combined with
● a grouping mechanism
● a social network to give people a measure of control
over who they do share with (ratings feedback)
● a way to rate the vehicle service provider and the
overall user experience (ratings feedback)
● a mechanism to dynamically price seats in a vehicle
based on time of day
● a way to congestion charge by ride seat price
The key things are the "grouping", "social network", "dynamic pricing"
and the "futures exchange" concepts.

6. So is Texxi the Exchange or the
hailing app?
It is both!
The hailing mechanism branding is "The
(Shared) Taxi You Text"
The DRT Exchange branding is "Transit
Exchange for the XXI Century"

7. So is Texxi the Exchange or the
hailing app?
Sometimes we have to double (or triple) as the liquidity
provider, marketing agent AND interface application
provider.
And thus we use "Texxi - the Taxi you Text" as the
marketing hook for the "hailing" bit.
If we were to white-label, only the "Transit Exchange for the
XXI Century" branding would be visible, since we would be
using generic other hailing technologies.

8. How do you get people to share ?
By making the whole price per seat per ride significantly
cheaper than it is currently
By allowing people to book rides ahead and recoup some
or all their money if they cannot make the trip.
To give people assured rides in the future (something few
taxi firms do), much like an airline, train company or long
distance coach company does
To allow people to buy "ride insurance" to protect them in
the case of illness or other emergency.

9. And what if someone does not want
to share?
They do not have to if they do not want to.We believe in
choice. And the attendant consequences.
They can either try and get a ride the good old fashioned
way (tough at periods of high demand) or not ride at all.
Or they can buy all the seats in a vehicle, much like
people can charter a boat or an aircraft all to themselves.
At periods of peak demand, e.g. Paddington cabshare
scheme, getting a ride at all in 30 mins has a significant
value all in itself.

10. But buying all the seats would be
too expensive
Actually - at periods of high demand (like Paddington
station at morning rush-hour), rather than tell people they
cannot have a cab by themselves, just charge them the
true demand price.
People will then make the decision themselves to share
when it is £5 vs £30.
The market will tell us how badly people want to ride alone
when that price comparison exists.
If corporations then start buying many whole cab rides for
their people, then the cab fleet can dynamically expand to
meet the demand (as long as the market is allowed to
work)
Places such as Kings Cross (where cabshare has failed)
could be tried again with the Market Maker ideas.

11. How do you get to critical mass?
By using the idea of a Market Maker to do
dynamic ride-matching in real-time.
Matching supply and demand through an
exchange construct is one of the reasons we
were able to demonstrate a working system
when all others had failed.
We use the Market Makers to provide liquidity
to the exchange to facilitate the trading.

12. But what about security / safety?
A shared taxi is no less safe than a shared bus
or train ride
And since there is *some* way to find a
passenger who is in the cab (not the case with
buses or trains), it is no more dangerous.
If people don't want others to see where they
live they can be picked up / dropped off at a
bus-stop near to where they live

13. But rich people don't want to share
Of course they don't.
But they still do. Look around a first or business
class cabin of an airline. Many people sharing
there.
Or private jet charters.
With the social network, people can choose a
maximum number of co-riders (from no-one to
the full capacity of the specific vehicle)

14. But rich people don't want to share
Plenty of people who are not rich (the majority)
would still use the system.
We heard that no-one would share and then
watched those very same people consent to
share with strangers.

15. But 25% is a lot to take from the
drivers
Think of it, instead, as the cab driver makes 75% of the
total.
Well if we make a cab driver 3 times the money he would
usually make (z), then taking 25% of the 3*z leaves 2.25*z
for the driver. We get 0.75z
That is hardly greedy. We make 25% because we increase
his earnings.
Normal booking firms take 5% - 15% for no extra money
made for the driver.

16. What does a licence buyer get?
A 50% share of the 25% revenue cut in the locale where
the licence is operating, MINUS operating costs - perhaps
30% - 50% of this amount.
Our "knowhow" and contract staff (supplied from Crane
Dragon)
Knowhow is operational methods, experience and use of
patents.
What we offer is a set of tactics to make the system work
since it is NOT trivial.