Taxi Booking App Built for a Luton Private Hire Company
A Luton-based private hire firm had been taking bookings by phone and paying high commissions to third-party booking apps for years. They wanted their own branded app, their own fare structure, and full control of their business without the ongoing fees.
Code Next built them a complete taxi booking platform from scratch a passenger app, a driver app, and a web-based dispatcher dashboard, all working together in real time.
What We Built
- Passenger App (iOS and Android) Customers open the app, enter their pickup and drop-off, and get an instant fare quote. They can book immediately, pay by card through Stripe, and track their driver on a live Google Maps view right up to arrival
- Automatic Fare Calculation The system uses the Google Maps Distance Matrix API to calculate the exact distance and time for every journey, then applies the company's fare table automatically. No manual pricing, no disputes
- Stripe Card Payments Passengers pay securely in the app. Corporate accounts are invoiced automatically at the end of the month
- Live Driver Tracking Passengers see their driver moving on the map in real time. They get a notification when the driver is close and another when they arrive
- Driver App Drivers receive job alerts, accept bookings with one tap, get turn-by-turn navigation, and see their earnings at the end of each shift
- Dispatcher Dashboard The office team can see every driver on a live map, create manual bookings by phone, and reassign jobs if a driver cannot make it
- Booking History and Receipts Both drivers and passengers have a full history of every trip, with receipts sent automatically by email
Results
- Launched the full platform in 10 weeks from the first meeting to going live
- Third-party app commission costs eliminated completely saving the operator thousands of pounds every month
- 500+ bookings processed through the app within the first 60 days
- Driver idle time reduced because the smart dispatch system always picks the nearest available driver
- Several new corporate accounts signed up, attracted by the professional app and automated monthly billing
If you run a taxi or private hire company in Luton or anywhere in the UK and you want your own app, talk to Code Next today. We have done it before and we can do it for you.