Business Opportunities Weblog

April 18, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

USA Today:

Business travelers have been going online for a decade to book airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars. But until recently they still had to hail a cab the old-fashioned way

Now, 34-year-old New York cab driver and entrepreneur Jason Diaz is trying to change that. Six months ago, he launched 1-800-cab-ride.com in hope of using the Internet to create a national brand and sales organization for the highly decentralized taxicab business.

“I want to do for the taxi business what 1-800-flowers.com did for the flower delivery business,” Diaz says.

Americans spend more than $12 billion a year on taxi rides, Diaz says, which makes the taxi business about as large as the ice cream industry.

Travelers can schedule a cab ride with as little as 10 minutes advance notice, though the company guarantees only that a cab will be available within three hours of booking. Travel agents can also book cab rides online for their clients at the same time they book airline tickets and hotel rooms.

Backed by private investors — he won’t say who, or how much they’ve invested — Diaz created 1-800-cab-ride.com by enlisting locally owned cab companies from around the USA into a network that extends to about 40 major markets. He’s adding about five markets a month.

Photo by 1800cabride.

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Tags: Internet, Niche, Technology