Melbourne, February 20: As fierce debate rages across Melbourne about the future of the taxi and rideshare industries, local player GoCatch is gathering momentum building its growing base of drivers, passengers, and market share.
GoCatch is the leading Australian on demand taxi and rideshare booking app, which allows drivers to pick up extra taxi fares while in their cabs, instead of waiting at ranks. The app also allows private ridesharing work “in their own vehicles, to earn extra income on days off,” according to GoCatch.
Taxi Driver, Jaskarn said that he get up to “three times more jobs when I use GoCatch than if I was just sitting on a rank or waiting for jobs to come through to me.
“I don’t use ranks anymore because they’re a waste of time…”
According to GoCatch, it has built a base of 300,000 passengers, since its inception in 2011.
It currently processes over 60,000 taxi rides a month nationwide.
GoCatch claims that GoCatch Rideshare drivers earn 85 percent of every trip, “that’s more commission than if they were using Uber,” – in contrast to multi-national operators who have been criticised for tax evasions and paying meagre sums to local drivers.
In terms of a passenger using GoCatch in a private rideshare vehicle, fares are cheaper than Uber, usually at least 5 per cent, according to GoCatch. It also claims that it doesn’t “surge”.
GoCatch CEO David Holmes said GoCatch was the classic Australian underdog – which is fighting back against a faceless global behemoth.
“I’ve seen the recent debate and I have a lot of sympathy with taxi drivers across the country. The reality is that the industry is moving quickly and we all need to adapt to that change,” he said.
“The travelling public of Australia, and not just Melbourne, have made it clear that ridesharing is here to stay. It’s vital for us as a business to listen to the demands of both drivers and passengers.”
As Australia embraces technology ranging from Pizza Delivery apps to Primary School learning apps, taxi driver Madhu, clearly does not want to be left behind.
“I’ve been using GoCatch for many years. It helps me pick up extra jobs and keep the wheels turning.
“It makes sense for drivers to embrace technology – because our passengers certainly have. If I’m not using technology in my cab – I’m missing out on extra money.”
Mr Holmes urged drivers and passengers of Melbourne to “join the groundswell of support behind a locally built and operated company like GoCatch, which put service and reliability first”.
GoCatch was developed in Australia with the fundamental tenet of ‘fair go’ as its core operating principle and was launched in Melbourne ahead of last year’s Spring Racing carnival.
The GoCatch app can be downloaded via the Apple Store or Google Play.
Shalini Singh
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