A network of providers for the rider convenience, but not thousands of circling drivers clogging traffic
Posted on January 8, 2021
Transportation-providing companies do not share a customer base. However, Regency Transportation provider of Montgomery County, Maryland, has managed to network with Barwood Brand and ACTION Cab of Montgomery County. As a result, riders can use the MARS app or MARS web reservation to reserve the closest ride and broker for non-emergency medical transport ( NEMT) to bring the gift of mobility to people with disabilities. That is a planned investment for delivering to Transits needs for NEMT, paratransit service.
Regency Taxi works tirelessly to provide operation for any customer
in Montgomery County, and designed a functional proposal to perform for local transits.
Regency won against Uber in networking taxi cab companies
giving the rider the ease of use of getting the nearest cab
regardless of brand.
HOW MANY CAB COMPANIES DO THAT? Regency’s management recognized the shift towards TNC s in 2009 and started a sister company to produce compatible software to network taxi companies. The sister company
IT Curves, designed with Transit agencies need of audit in mind. Serving transits for fifteen years, IT Curves designed a chain management system for ride-booking, wherefrom the incoming call or web, or app request for a ride, the information is contained seamlessly all the way to job dispatched/ accepted by driver and bill generated and invoiced
We educated our policymakers and
regional transportation providers that there is a chance to
Network regulated cabs, so the consumer has a choice.
Cab prices remain fixed by local jurisdictions, and cab companies pay $1000 fees for picking up passengers out of a zone.
The option of closest cab regardless of the brand of the cab.
Bethesda Magazine always featured Barwood
This work of creating the gift of mobility could be headlined as
Three local cab companies form a strategic partnership
In the coming weeks,
160 Regency Taxi vehicles and another 225 Barwood vehicles will seemingly disappear from Montgomery County’s streets.
The companies, however, are carrying on – despite the unfair competition that Uber and Lyft bring. MARS app is used nationally with over 3000 vehicles.
“Once competitors engaged in a healthy rivalry, Regency, Barwood, and Action, and IT Curves’ leadership had a kumbaya moment and aligned to bring a regulated network of riders.”
For the past nine years, IT Curves, a Maryland-based Software company, helps dispatch rides to 3000 cabs daily with local white-labeled brands. Part of the MoCo cabs also includes a revamped smartphone app, upgraded technology in cars.
“When you have an unlimited fleet like Uber or Lyft, which could have 40,000 cars at any given time in a city, how do you compete?” Regency enthusiast Sherri Mohebbi asked during an exclusive interview earlier this month. “And the way you compete is by optimizing the number of vehicles needed at a location.”
“No medallions changed hands, though regardless of owner, all 700 cabs will now be accessible through MARS app – a crucial update that realigns local taxis’ customer-facing tech with Uber and Lyft – and by dialing any of the numbers previously associated with the three companies.”
The merger of sorts came together over the past six months. Mr. Mohebbi, who owns ITCurves, sorted out details during Saturday morning bagel coffee.
We had to learn to trust one another, understand that we all have common goals, and know that working together is the best way forward.
“The abilities of all of us together far surpassed the power of any one of us, Sherri said.
Aside from the cosmetic changes, customers may have already started to notice some of the other changes. For example, taxis offering an experience more in line with ridesharing companies, referred to as transportation network companies, or TNCs, in legislation.
Tablets have replaced the traditional meter and payment systems, allowing cab operators to eliminate time spent on equipment training. The tech also lets passengers charge their phones while en route and monitor total cost in real-time – a change from the old meters, which only showed the full fare once at the destination.
IT Curves came up with cash payment before the TNC apps, and also integrates the subsidized cards as payment, and calculates fares for ADA rides from transits. Fairs can be subsidized with split billing and pooled rides and a user-friendly app that creates a token from credit card payment information and does not store credit card information. MARS has a real-time map of nearby available cabs. Passengers can use the pair and pay feature to pay for a ride while already in a MARS car.
“Our app can do more than the TNCs, and be useful in providing a similar service with fares that are comparable to other companies,” Company management said, alluding to one thing the cab companies won’t do, for now, to match its ridesharing competitors – surge pricing.
A taxi is a consistent rate,” management said. The driver’s time, fuel, car maintenance, 24/7 call Center customer service can’t be duplicated.”
And according to the newly partnered firms, that’s OK. Mohebbi and management say they are aiming to draw back customers with consistency and safety.
“Our drivers are full-time dedicated drivers that care about passengers. They are not high turnover temps with a driving license. The drivers are screen for math, map capacity, and FBI background checked and didn’t traffic around. Maryland may allow vaccination for drivers under 1B or second group.
As cab companies are under regulation by the county, the cab fares are preset by the county, and individual cab companies cannot lawfully charge the fare rate. In the same way, the Transits cannot offer a daily/hourly change rate for the Metro area.
The joint venture, in particular integrating onto a single app, clearly “delivers more value to the customer” since it will reduce waiting times and eliminate the need for multiple apps, Mohebbi said.
A marketing strategy worth trying, he suggested, is placing a greater emphasis on MARS MOCO as a local brand. “We are your neighbors; we are here in Montgomery County,” he said. “Our company cares about people in Montgomery County. “
The MoCo partners are still sorting out potential marketing campaigns as the focus has been on the rebrand and tech upgrades. Once that’s complete, MARS will up the intensity on another, admittedly, low-tech method to rival the Silicon Valley players.
“We are pushing for taxi stands to conjoin with major transportation depots,” Mohebbi said.
On the driver side, the new tech shows the queue of requested rides and analyzes a comparable day’s business so they can make an educated decision on where to position their car.
But other taxi stands would take this a step further, Mohebbi said.
“We have to deploy our fleet efficiently, and that it knows where we can be the most effective for the population,” he reasoned.
Working with the Transportation Dept., the taxi companies surveyed neighborhood associations and businesses across Montgomery County to find where gaps in transportation exist, he said.
Places like the Malls in Bethesda, lake forest Mall, and SilverSpring, were a few locations where survey participants said a taxi stand is needed to meet demand.
Another possibility is offering flat rate zones, Mohebbi said, for the commerce area zones.
Montgomery county cab companies dispatched based on zones.
That’s what we are going to consider more of to keep ridership up then figuring out when it is the busiest time including for holiday events and tourism and significant conventions not charging people eight times the average rate to go somewhere,” he said, one of his few jabs at TNCs.
He and management have battled with regulators since Ubers first arrived in Montgomery County to even the playing field. Following recent rule changes, it is easier to focus on his own business, but he said reining the TNCs would still be a good thing for the county overall.
Saying he does not want to cast himself as “the protagonist to fight them,” Mohebbi said, “I don’t think it is good for anybody that it takes 40 minutes to cross town because there are thousands of vehicles for hire roaming the streets on a Friday night, or a guy with a VA plate, who has no clue that is once taking Viers Mill Rd, you have to U-Turn back onto Rockville pike.
Sherri Mohebbi
Regency, Barwood, Action, IT Curves
Posted in TAXILeave a comment
Better NEMT Ride Management
Posted on October 13, 2020
Posted in TAXILeave a comment
IT CURVES RESERVATION PLATFORM CATERED FOR COVID-19
Posted on April 27, 2020
CLIENT NEWSLETTER COVID-19, MAY 2020
CLIENT NEWSLETTER COVID-19, MAY 2020.docx
Posted in TAXILeave a comment
Transportation And Connectivity
Posted on April 23, 2020
open-client-newsletter-final-draft_4.17.2020-11pm.pdf
Posted in TAXITagged call center automation, dispatch automation, fleet management, live map, ride app, TAXI, taxi booking appLeave a comment
A Call for Legislature on the Paper Reduction Act
Posted on April 14, 2020
Creating legislature about not being wasteful may not be a bad thing. For example, in the case of having a paper trail as proof that a ride took place, the receipt generated at the end of a transportation ride confirms the ride taken. To confirm with limiting the need for paper usage and unnecessary accounting and administration work, ITCurves digitalized the ride taken, including with face recognition software to authenticate the rider subscribed to ridership programs. Sort of like a cardscan to get in a building, along with a token generated to show the time of exit of the rider.
The ride source as distributor/broker needs confirmation that the rider has taken a ride, such as a receipt for a purchase transaction. ITCurves is currently creating a receipt with the rider picture on the receipt. For the ride supplier to track whether a ride took place or not, a piece of paper will be returned to the broker by the driver with the rider’s signature. Typically, medical facilities can provide subsidized rides. The ride-providing facility as ride source will print a paper promising to reimburse a ride. This receipt tracking starts with the ride broker passes on the paper to the rider. The rider gets in the cab and gives the paper to the driver. Upon completing the ride, the driver gets the rider’s signature (that constitutes a receipt). The driver brings the paper to the cashier admin at the transportation company. The cashier will pay the driver for the ride in place of the piece of paper, and the ride performed. The transportation company then bills the broker for the rides completed for the broker.
The transportation note is entered into the digitalized database that converts the promised note to a ledger for billing the ride distribution entity monthly. The paper is then passed on to the audit department for verification and kept at self-storage for oversight availability. Then, external audit companies will audit the paper trail to make sure took the rides.
If there are problems with the paper that the driver hands, the bookkeeper/auditor will retrace the paper by sending the paper to the cashier again, and the issue tracking process starts. Occasionally the driver will have to take off from work and come into see the cashier. Occasionally the driver will have to pay for a ride that was given that is not well documented, as the ride source will not pay for the ride. Some of the ride brokers’ issues are policies such as drivers cannot perform a return trip and wait for the rider to pick up prescriptions. Even if that means the senior passenger dropped off at the pharmacy will have to call the call center and secure another transportation. The passenger will have to dwindle around the pharmacy before the next available driver shows up. The round trip prohibition prevents the broker from incurring charges from a single trip service as a round trip service.
While the paper-reduction act could be exerted here to reduce paperwork, there is also mission accomplishment time, and team, brain resource time reduction act, should be legislated to prevent extra time and resources when possible.
An electronic method of follow-through automation is designed by IT Curves intelligent software. A desktop publishing platform that integrates ride providers can be used for entering the ride request at the ride source, with excel uploads or on-demand, including asking the individuals to schedule the ride with a particular account. Drivers will be notified of dispatch, the rider and management will get notified of the pickup proximity and actual pickup. Rider and management have access to the live route driver are taking. At the end of the trip, trip price can be adjusted to the most common price for the ride or explain the price variance due to traffic or weather issues. The rider can sign the signature pad or swipe ID for authentication.
IT Curves took the initiative to have a signature capture method for the driver. This can be used for electronic feedback to the oversight entity, assuring the rider took the ride. This technology is integrated into the mobile management software of the driver and back seat payment processor in the cab.
The management and the rider and driver will have an accurate record of transactions instantly since the ledgering for a rider and the riding process is noted electronically. The form for the ride is ledgered in seconds intervals and stored in a single record. Any changes to the document will be inscribed in the history with the date and time of the change and the desktop publisher account holder that made the change to the record. This record-keeping method will allow the ride provider to have oversight and audit/QC features.
The paper reduction act is lovely and when should be enacted when possible.
What is wasteful that is not legislated as heavily as the paper is the time multiple employees spend going through this process. To have people publish and ship the paper, people can store and dispense the paper to carry the paper around. People to process the paper (finally in an electronic billing cashiering module), and office hours used for paper management and storage, retrieval, and reconciliation.
Getting in front of the time of the people that do paper processing should have a legislature. Allocating the time on paper processing to a better end would result in life enrichment.
Getting in front of scrapping/redoing the software that accomplishes the automation is perhaps the most needed of the legislature. The software engineering time (cooperative effort of think, design, test, put in production) typically involves 15 or more software engineers, marketing /sales reps, besides the office rent and equipment necessary to produce automation, is not conducive to wastefulness. Please be kind- don’t scrap the hard work of software engineers; it’s an intrinsic law!
Posted in TAXILeave a comment
ITCurves Flyer on Transportation-Related Departments integrated with Software.
Posted on October 10, 2019
Posted in TAXITagged TLPALeave a comment
Designing with compassion
Posted on May 16, 2019
About 40 years ago, when I spent all my days in the Chemistry laboratory and took philosophy courses trying to find rhyme and reasons about life, I’d head back home to my apartment at sundown. The bus was my method of commuting, and I’d walk about nine minutes uphill to the bus stop on Massachusetts Ave. The service was erratic, and the wait was tolerable except when bad weather in winter would bring a ton of snow and freezing temperatures. Add that my young, stubborn head about not wearing for the weather, and that left me knee-deep in the snow with no booths or warm jacket. On such occasions, the bus would run late or skip service altogether. Waiting for over an hour in these circumstances gives your concept of life a good shake. Dependency becomes apparent, and music like Barbara Streisand, people who need people, chimes. Years later, with a Masters’s Degree in Physical Chemistry and years of experience in database and computer system applications and office administration, and independent children, I understand the strength of a product that can communicate the arrival time of a mobile vehicle to a mobile device.
The problem for the rider is still not resolved, though, as the mobile device has a high monthly cost, and the typical bus commuter may not be apt to have s $70 a month mobile phone plan.
A simple bus stop modification that would communicate the minutes to the next bus would ease the rider’s mind. Moreover, this solar digital display would allow the rider to decide to stay in a sheltered area if the bus is not coming soon.
Even though this design may not land us on the moon, but think of how many happy commuters we could have.
Posted in TAXILeave a comment
Natural Partners
Posted on October 20, 2018
Cabby business people are to be available on-demand and not by schedule, humble, and provide to any rider when and where required. From experience of riding cabs to being around many cab drivers, most drivers are service-oriented and giving.
This character lends well to providing service to those that need attention and care.
Requiring Paratransit ride providers to be certified and networked will provide ease of mobility for paratransit riders, plus job security for the frailed professional driver. Drivers awakened to the prevalence of angel investor ride providers are not knowledgeable in defending their rights like education providers, doctors, or senators. Like people with disabilities, these groups of people need help to retain income and not be deflated by some conglomerate, undercutting prices. Government entities typically set the price of taxi rides similar to bus and metro prices, and that price is not negotiable.
While the TNCs subsidize rides by angel investors that provide the gift of mobility to the millennials, which could boost the economy, the professional driver and public Transit are taking the pressure. Random traffic is created on the road because why not take a $5 ride to your destination, walk to the bus station, wait for an unknown amount of time for a bus and walk to your destination in cold weather or rain.
If a conglomerate E-education company were to take over the teacher’s job, many talks about adjusting the educators.
Additionally, the administrators that manage taxis, public transit companies are also at risk of losing the foundation and years of investing in the business. These jobs are changing from rigorous attention requiring more data analysis jobs and sophisticated management software that needs monitory resource more than primary human resource.
While the professional chauffeurs apply natural caring behavior, similar to nurses and teachers, this group of citizens is daily astounded by a lack of attention from riders and lawmakers. Representatives who can acknowledge the shift should proactively set guidelines that prevent undue hardship to the caring grassroots worker.
The meeting on Thursday felt like a step toward stitching the fabric that connects members despite job ranking. Holistically designing and implementing for the society is what great thinkers manage to develop better than any individual would be able to do.
Transit Group Incorporated designs with society in mind. Please have this small company be available at the table where there are grants or funding available to nourish our work and when there are projects that could benefit from our design and consultancy.
Invest in thinking
Posted on January 13, 2018
As a way of the Smart City Planning initiative, Transit Group Incorporated(TGI) designs sustainable transportation solutions. Recently TGI group of companies was awarded a public, private cooperative based on the value thinking designs of TGI. As consulting technology partners, we recognized taxis’ ability, as a network, to provide on-demand private rides to the ADA-compliant rider. This restructuring creates mobility for the ADA rider, full day’s work for the taxi drivers, and reduces accessible ride cost for the METRO. Additionally, since the thousands of dedicated taxi chauffeurs gladly have less of a hustle and more reliable route, road traffic is more controlled and reduces stress for the dedicated chauffeurs. The ADA rider appreciates having the option of a private ride without prescheduling need. TGI creates an extra level of desirability of this product model by making invoicing integrated into the ride scheduling software giving Public Agencies ease of audit. TGI provides its partner with live data and visualization for the rides booked and en route via a web-based application.
The reservation ticketing management chain is seamless and specific for invoicing reconciliation. As a result, the taxicab company’s booking and the invoicing cost are reduced and transparent.
The public-private collaborative is genuinely a top-down solution with the ADA rider in mind even though the benefit also comes to
Transit retaining money for other projects
The private companies have jobs
The regular rider has the option of closest cab
The on-demand chauffeur has income
The transparency of traffic
The auditing ease
And, of course, creating a better world for the ADA rider is its reward.
Video of product
Sherri Mohebbi
Director of Outreach
Transit Group Incorporated
Please visit the IT Curves Software
Try our Transit linked booking app available to all riders, including the ADA rider open in over twenty cities
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/armon-usa/id1277080656?mt=8 a
Marsbookingapp
Posted in Cab, Network taxi, TAXI, Taxi app, taxi cab fleet management, Taxiapp, TransitTagged call center automation, dispatch automation, fleet management, live map, ride app, TAXI, taxi booking app, Taxiapp network taxis1 Comment.
SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION
Posted on September 14, 2016
Ah, to not have to miss a day at home waiting for the delivery truck to bring the new dishwasher or table, or the service person to come to fix the plumbing or the heating and air conditioning! That day is here!
The MARS booking app allows the fleet manager to enter the deliveries scheduled for the day. The app assigns the best, most efficient route to take and enables the consumer to see when their turn will be via a notification of your choice. For example, let us say you can safely get yourself home from work in 15 minutes, the app will send you messages to let you know when the service/delivery vehicle is on the way to your house—no more calling the call center dispatcher for when will the delivery or service take place? The call center will get an accurate view of where the vehicle is and will let the consumer be aware of the traffic situation or extra time spent at earlier stops.
The call center can maintain composure and provide better service. The consumer does not have to stay the whole day at home; the driver can recount their traffic predicament or the extra time on the job with transparency. The manager can schedule driver time more efficiently and have good reporting capabilities.
Additionally, the consumer can receive the latest promotions from the subscribing retailers and choose the stores and services that may be relevant. The consumer can rate the service provided right on the app, and therefore the consumer can select based on particular criteria.
That’s why the MARS app is the most powerful city app in the world. Life-changing!
Posted in UncategorizedTagged dispatch automation, fleet management, live mapLeave a comment
HOW THE FUTURE OF THE TAXI CAB COMPANIES ARE SO BRIGHT
Posted on September 14, 2016
The taxi cab companies will be reinventing how we manage our days. This form of transportation accommodates the on-demand busy schedules like no other industry. Yes, Amazon can deliver some items in an hour (in case you didn’t know it’s actually true in some very urban areas), and so can taxi companies. Taxi companies can deliver that coat you just purchased from J Crew, pick it up from the Mall, and get it to your door. This the consumer can do with a few clicks of the ride-booking app, called MARS. MARS is nationally available from the iTunes and Google Play Store. You can hail the closest cab to your local J Crew and have your item picked up and delivered to your door. Depending on how close you are to the Mall, that may well be worth the price of gas, the aggravation of mall shopping and parking, the reduction of extra cars on the road, and the safety of not being on the road.
Another joy in having a taxi service delivery for you is the accurate ETA you can get from your app. For example, let us say you are on your way to see a friend, and you still have to pick up your medicine from the pharmacy, bring flowers, and pick up your dry cleaning. Well, hail the cab on your phone, and leave notes about your errand, and jump in the shower; by the time you come out of the shower, get dressed and ready, your cab will be there with all your goods assuming the stores are in a nearby center to your place!
If food is always a need that gets you out of the workplace and running to nearby restaurants, fear no more! You can place your lunch order start to take your lunch break while you wait for the food or the whole office food to arrive. And a hot summer or cold winter trip to the store to pick up your mom’s medicine and water is possible even if you’re stranded because you can rely on the neighborhood taxi.
And how about that last-minute birthday cake that you still have not picked out, and you are running late to manage that? You guessed it all easily possible.
Try the Regency app now:
Posted in Cab, Network taxi, TAXI, taxi cab fleet management, UncategorizedTagged dispatch automation, TAXILeave a comment
The app software and mobile technology integrate to allow cab companies to be dispatchable, with large requests and individuals, any time, anywhere ( even international).
The nearest cab (from all taxi companies) will be visible, live, on the map, even if blocks away! An animated cab drivers’ approach on a live map and notifications of arrival times for the transportation arrival. The driver can get ratings, and the rider can select a driver based on attributes.
These features will reestablish the taxi industry as a welcome, integrated part of the app-using and safety-conscious society.
The currently existing taxi cab companies can become a part of a network of taxi companies. As a result, all taxi companies in the world can be available to riders, wherever the rider is.
The rider does not need to know the name of the local company in a particular area. All the rider need is the “MARS APP.” Using the MARS APP, the rider will find the nearest cab, regardless of the name or color of the cab!
Regulators and taxi cab company owners will benefit from knowing the public rider will remain in the domain of riders, rather than trusting a software company to link riders to rides!
Option for the consumer increases as banding of taxi companies will allow the rider to use MARS APP anywhere in the world.
The app’s evaluation feature will allow for the driver’s accountability to shape up as a driver or get bad ratings.
The visibility of the rides on the map will give the rider assurance as to the cab’s arrival.
The contact information masking between rider and driver will ensure the safety of both individuals, as opposed to ride-sharing apps.
24/7 availability of taxi companies will allow for intervening in case of mishaps.
Ridership for taxi companies will rise as the millennials grow and the new-age kids born to smartphones start using taxis.
The rider does not have to leap of faith every time they get in a car!
Our company allows Networking of Taxi Companies via an International Roaming software for regulated taxi companies.
Please visit our website:
leave us a demo request:
info@itcurves.net
call us: 301-208-2222
Please download our booking app at
http://reservation.mars.itcurves.us/?AppID=mars_web
Visit MARS APP:
On to the next blog!
Why do transportation companies need to have more automation and banding in order to enter the 21st century Applicational Revolution!
ImagePosted in Cab, Network taxi, Taxi app, taxi cab fleet management, Taxiapp, Transit, UncategorizedTagged call center automation, dispatch automation, fleet management, ride app, TAXI, taxi booking app, Taxiapp network taxisLeave a comment
Saving The Future of Taxi Cabs
Posted on February 19, 2016
ITCurves gets its start from being a taxi company owned by a Techie Mom and Pop Owner. Well, a rocket scientist owner-CEO and an at-home mom who is passionate about innovation and technology.
The disruptive market economy driven by consumer demand and the millennial command of media has produced a need for a reinvention of the taxi industry like all other industries reinvented to suit the busy lives of the consumer.
Ridesharing software has proven that there’s a benefit from having entities in each state network, so the consumer needs not be familiar with each and every brand of a taxi company in each town, and rather to have access to the nearest car that can carry the rider to its destination. No call center is pushing jobs on a particular driver, no driver intimidating the call center for more jobs. Drivers can rest assured the nearest position is theirs, and there’s no unnecessary travel across the city to drive a passenger to her local store. The nearest cab to a consumer would be able to run that job and still have a chance to find employment in their local area. No more standing out in the cold for hours waiting for a taxi. Also software allows transparency of the driver, and the rider will know how far is the driver and can call the driver to discuss concerning issues.
IT Curves, as a product of a taxi cab company, has designed an app that will allow your customers to be in touch with the driver and rate the driver without disclosing phone numbers. When the MARS app is used to book a taxi, the driver arrives at the rider, and the rider sees the driver approach on a live map, the driver can contact the rider via a push button on his tablet. The rider can find why the card stopped on the road( perhaps even refuel) by pushing a button on the app. The cab company’s phone number will show during these interactions and not the naked cell phone number of the rider or the driver.
IT Curves will always be ahead of the curve of innovation ventures since IT Curves was born to a taxi company. Do you know any other software company that lives the taxi corporation life every day via the eyes of a world-class, efficient innovator?!
We’ve got the shield to help you against the array of freelance software companies producing patchy fixes for taxi companies that costs a lot but does not innovate.
With our app, all taxi companies can bond to form a network of taxis servicing the whole nation. The taxi cab company customers can download your branded app and reserve cabs even when they’re out of town.
Knowing the consumer does not have to rely on an unsafe uninsured driver and quickly attaining vehicles to provide for your customer even when they are out of town is a satisfying feeling for any taxi cab company!
We currently have taxis networking in these states:
Maryland Virginia District of Columbia
Pennsylvania Delaware Connecticut
Indianapolis Missouri Ohio Colorado
Alabama Washington California
as active customers, and we love to be the company that co-ops taxi companies nationally. Our customers know us by the first name. Get to know us more by contacting us
info@itcurves.net 301-208-2222
Please test out our taxi booking app :
ITCURVES NEWS 