Since the time Uber plunged into the idea of ride-sharing, we can now see a boom of the ride-sharing apps around the corner. They are pretty much loved and embraced by today’s generation. The major reason being, they cut down the fare structures and provide the company while traveling alone plus more or less it saves the fuel consumption as well. Altogether the above reasons form the major backbone of a ride-sharing app. It perfectly leverages all the diverse riding requirements of today’s users so as to make traveling pretty much interesting and easier. Nowadays, ride-sharing is quite a common concept in all the existing taxi mobile apps.

However, most of the businesses are ready to go on board with the individual ride-sharing mobile apps. Being already loved by the users, it is quite dominating the niche. So here find out the best attributes, features, costs, and technologies covered in the ride-sharing app development. Keep reading the post so as to embark with just the right technology and approach in order to capture the best-in-class ride-sharing app across all the market avenues.

Market Stats for the Ride-Sharing Industry

  • After the backdown impact from the pandemic, the industry of the ride-sharing is expected to reach $185B in 2026, from $85.8B in the year 2021 with a decent rise in the growth rate of 16.6%.
  • Uber and Lyft are the two most ride-hailing companies with revenue of $14B and $3.6B respectively.
  • Key market players are Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc., Didi Chuxing Technology Co., Gett, etc.
  • User penetration is expected to reach 21.1% in 2026.
  • With so much competitiveness in the traditional and newer ride-sharing industry, more of the companies are interested to be a part of it to fuel up more revenue into the niche industry.

The development of a new ride-sharing app in the saturated market is such an irksome process. However, if you want to prove your attention in the respective market, then it is a wise step for you to understand the potential important reasons that can motivate you to create your app in this market.

These ride-hailing apps offer numerous benefits to the users like easy booking options, fewer parking worries, fixed door-to-door ride services, and low carbon footprints. This states the coming future would be driven by the services.

Uber

Uber has claimed that their drivers have earned up to $55k per year with the minimum cost of $15 with less than 30 minutes. Attention to these stats, Uber is tending to be the biggest ride-sharing app in the market.

It brings many facilities to their users like you never have to pay before for your rides. Customers can avail the ride at their comfort and their budget. Some of the ride sharing options are UberX, UberXL, UberPool, UberBike and UberAuto. Users can book the ride for their relatives or anyone else too.

Lyft

You wanna get a Lift? Lift for your travel. Yes, you can. Just book your ride with Lyft, don’t stay on the roads for long just to find the cab or communication hassle for the ride fares. Lyft is all there for their users for quick and safe ride-hailing options, which gives pleasure and comfort for their users.

With the presence of more than 2M drivers and more than 30M riders across the world, Lyft has earned $42 revenue per active rider.

Lyft has offered so much flexibility to its users. Drivers can set their own hours and earn with their own terms of time and cost. Get paid instantly once the user booked a ride and reached their destination.

Perhaps, users can book their ride just with a few taps, and get a quick ride within minutes.

Lyft has offered membership plans on their app platform, with the 15% off on the rides, starting just with $19.9/month.

Some of the top features users can hail for them are; rider, ride, fare estimate, driver, investor relations, driver’s guide to paying, and many more. Affordable options like Lyft XL, Lyft Lux, Rentals, preferred mode, transit, bike, and scooters.

Ola

Ola is known as India based ride-sharing app, started as the first low-budget ride app for Indian customers. Leverage with a number of options like share pass, flat fare zones, express, rent a car, hire a driver for long trips, or outstation travel. Coming up with several options for the riders and users. Like for drivers, it facilitates low-budget riding, travel insurance and assistance for the travelers, entertainment options in cabs like listening to music, or video app. While drivers get paid daily, an option to lease other cars for giving driving services to users.

The demand and growth of ola users have been growing in recent years with the wider presence of 200M customers, holding a market share of 80% in the Indian market. Being into a similar industry, you too can grab some of the mixed ideas from these top propelling apps in the market. Recently it has influenced the automobile market, coming up with Old electric scooters.

The top features it has included in the years are AC cab at lower rates, reducing the carbon footprints, etc.

Steps to Create Ride-Sharing App

With the immense and fast adoption of smart devices, wearables, smartphones, and the internet, ride-sharing creates global opportunities for the industry.

We have proceeded with 7 of the crucial steps involved in the development of the ride-sharing app.

  • Research the market stats for the rideshare app

This is a very gauging step for the creation of an app. Developers understand and examine any shortcomings in the market existing before. And comes up with new plannings and strategies.

  • Identify the best platform for the app to create

It’s going to be the tough nut to crack. Identifying the user base presence over the existing platforms would embark your chances to reach wider customers.

  • Find the key features 

For developing the application and ensuring its success in the market, it should have key features. Integration of dependency third-party APIs smoothes the overall functionality of the app. Generally, the app creation is distributed with panels, into drivers, customers, and admin.

  • Pick the best company for development

Before the development of your application, ensure that it comprises overall features, responsiveness, security ethics, privacy, and guidelines. This would bring trust amongst the users, drivers, and taxi fleet owners.

Your app is your identity, make sure you have the best team of creators that can lay down your app idea in reality.

  • Prepare the wireframe and design of the app

Wireframing steps cut down the larger cost that can be detected at the end of the product. It gives a clear vision to the developers, whether they could meet the customer’s expectation or not. Identifying the issues at the early stage would cut down the extra issue or cost in the development phase.

  • Testing and deployment of the app

Once the app is ready, it is examined by the testing engineer from all of the aspects. Manual and automated tools shorten the time for testing. After all of the testing, it arrived at the play stores for deployment. It will take up to 48 hours for the final approval by the play store.

  • Maintenance support for the app

To maintain brand value, it’s important for you to hold the hands of your app users. App post support and maintenance if required are crucial for your business to keep thriving for long in the success virtue of yours.

 

Monetization Models of Ride-Sharing Apps

Robo taxis are the new pick as an autonomous solution in the on-demand industry of the ride-sharing industry. This limits many of the problems faced earlier. Such as traffic congestion problem, pollution emitting, large dispatch of the energy consumption, and of course reduce in the road accidents. In 2019, Uber handshake with the taxi fleet operators came up with the third generation autonomous solution for the users.

Monetization is the best way to keep the revenue-driving for your business in the market. Ride-sharing apps hail a dominant presence in the market. Let’s understand what strategies they have encountered for their application.

1. Commission-based model

In this revenue-generating model, a fleet of money is charged to the driver and the user for the succession of the app and keep the revenue-driving. For example, Lyft has charged 20% of the commission to their customers and the drivers to serve smooth services in return.

2. Partnering model

Let more people handshake with your business idea to ensure its success more rapidly. In such a model the owner of the app partnered with multiple taxi fleet service providers to offer ease of free riding to the users.

For example; Lyft has partnered with the BMW7 series to introduce new riding options to the people. This brings many of the new owners into this market.

3. Advertising model

In such a model the taxi fleet owners advertise their services to the niche spaces of the similar application. They could even run their banner on the home screen of the app or any other high traffic reflecting space. In return for this, they have charged a nominal fee.

Feature of Ride Sharing Mobile Application

User Panel

  • Register: This can be said as the basic section of an app. Users can log in with their social networks or email account credentials.
  • Find a Ride: Users can check the rides for reaching the required destinations. They can find other users as well, that are willing to take the same routes as well.
  • Real-time updates: The user receives real-time updates about the other users as well, depending upon the drop-off location. They can calculate how long it would take for them to reach a certain point.
  • Location Tracking: This is the basic section of the app. Users can get the location of their co-traveler, drop-off location, and the routes are taken.
  • Scheduling: Users can schedule the rides as well. They can book the rides with the co-travelers and driver, to avoid any last-minute confusion.
  • Split Payment: Depending on the fare calculated and the individual distance traveled, the user can split the payments accordingly.
  • Get in Touch Before Rides: Users can communicate with their co-travelers before taking the rides. They can ask about the pickup location and estimated time required for catching the cab and much more.
  • Cancel Bookings: Users can cancel the booking owing to some last-minute urgencies or due to some issues with the route taken by the co-traveler.
  • Tracking: Both the user and the co-traveler can track the location of the cab so as to identify the respective pick-up locations.

Driver panel

The driver panel is designed to affirm that the driver doesn’t face any troubles. It becomes significant that the solutions that are deployed are transparent and resolve the problems end-users face.

 

  • Login: Under this section, the driver can register into the app with the help of credentials provided by the admin.
  • Accept/reject Request: Owing to the location of the co-traveler and destination, the driver can accept or reject the assigned request.
  • Real-time Request: The driver can be assigned the real-time request so as to take a ride and make the most of their work hours.
  • Trip Information: The driver can analyze the trip information such as the drop-off destination; user and co-traveler pick-up location along with the estimated distance.
  • Built-in Navigation: This is the most basic attribute of a ride-sharing app. The driver can identify the pickup location of both the user and co-traveler and can find out the most optimized route to be taken. The navigation system installed takes the driver through the shortest route saving time and energy.
  • Contact passenger: The driver can contact the passengers as well. He can ask about some landmarks or the exact path for picking up the users within a minimized time.
  • Receive Payments: Drivers can receive the payments made by both the user and the co-traveler so as to balance the fare and the invoice generated.

Admin Panel

The panel is designed specifically for you. You can check who uses the app and how the app is being utilized. In case of any discrepancies, you can let go of the service provider or the customer.

  • Manage Dashboard: All the drivers associated with the app and the rides taken by them on a daily basis are managed and monitored by the admin.
  • Manage Car Share Preferences and Car Details: All the riding machines attuned with the app and the ones that are most booked by the users are managed and stored.
  • View and Manage Posted Rides: All the scheduled rides booked by the user and co-traveler are managed and viewed by the admin.
  • Pay to Drivers: As per the number of rides taken, the car model used, and the total distance covered, the admin can pay the respective amount to the driver.
  • Manage to Pick Up Suggestions: Under this section, all the pick-up suggestions, co-travelers, and their details are listed and managed by the admin.
  • Manage Car Models: All the associated car models along with their details are managed and stored by the admin.
  • Ride and Driver Report: Admin can check and verify the rate and reviews assigned by the users to the drivers.
  • Manage Email Templates: All the promotional email templates and the content details are managed and monitored by the admin.
  • Manage Rates: According to the variations in the prices corresponding to the Kms covered and the fuel, the admin can change and set the fare structure.
  • Loyalty Points and Rewards: Admin rewards the users with free rides and some coupons upon the successful referral and in case they are attuned with the app for a longer time.
  • App Monetization: All the advertisements, banners, and app promotional strategies are managed and monitored by the admin. With these features available for you, you can take care of the participants in the application and affirm that the solutions are transparent. We make sure to take measures to build a strong application that reflects well.

Read Also: How Much It Cost to Develop a Bike Sharing App like Mobike

Advanced Features

The advanced features we are talking about here are determined by the response of the audience to your competitions’ game. We make sure to resolve the loopholes in your competitors’ applications and affirm that you gain popularity.

 

  • Heat Map: The heat map basically shows the busiest time of one location. It also helps to see the real-time driving map of the cars so that the concerned passenger or the co-traveler can make a better decision of choosing the driver more accurately.
  • Geolocation Tracking and Routing: This application is very much dependent on the GPS tracking system in the form of maps. The car is tracked 24/7 and the location is updated in real-time. The fare is also calculated as per the distance covered. The map also shows a detailed path of each and calculates the shortest path and suggests the most optimized routes to be taken.
  • Real-Time Charts & Dashboards: Through this app feature, the admin can use the pie charts for visualizing the app usability ratio, number of rides generated, the peak hour when the drivers are occupied, the routes taken for making business-oriented and productive decisions.
  • Favorite driver: If the rider or tourist is comfortable with a particular driver then the concerned passenger can book the same driver again for future rides.
  • Free in-app calls: After booking a taxi or car, the passenger can make free calls and can communicate with the driver and co-traveler for identifying the pickup and drop-off locations.
  • Multiple trip options: Well, the users can be assigned one time or multiple trips with the rounding trip option. They can be rewarded with loyalty points or rewards as well, so as to ensure that trips are being utilized by them for reaching the destinations.
  • Notifications: Users get the alert, once selected for the ride-sharing by the other users. They get the corresponding destinations, the time required in picking up, routes shared, and the payment status.
  • Surge and flat pricing: Under this feature, users can check the fixed prices for traveling to the airport, railway station, or to the desired bus stands. Furthermore, they can grab the idea about a time when the fare charges are low and when they are high. This allows them to book the cab in a more convenient manner.
  • Number masking: This attribute contributes to the safety and security of the users. The passengers can call other users while keeping the phone numbers unrevealed and anonymous.
  • Multilingual: This helps in taking the concept of a ride-sharing app to a whole new level. The users and drivers can operate the app in their desired language. This is a great way of making your app scalable in a very convenient way.
  • Auto price suggestion: With this attribute, users get the details regarding the different prices for different locations. They can grab an idea about the rate standards for the different car models and according to a particular time in a day.

These are a few features that would easily make your app go popular. With such rich features, you can always reach us and be assured that what you get is the best in the market. We make sure the solutions that are delivered to you are feature ladened and can help you grow easily.

Team Architecture

The app development team structure is a strong aspect to determine how long it would take for an application to enter the market. With a well-defined team structure, it becomes easier for the customers to understand how to build a rideshare app.

 

Project Manager: The project manager is the point of contact with the client. He would coordinate with the client and the team. In case of any confusion, the project manager can connect with the client team and try to get the issues resolved.

UX/UI Developers: The team takes care of the look and feel of the application. Our car-sharing app development team delivers solutions that are easily navigable and can help you earn great profits.

Development Team: The hybrid mobile app development team affirms that the solution delivered to you runs on all the platforms. We do offer native app development services if you need Hire android app developers or Hire iPhone app developers. They use the latest technology and trends in the market to deliver solutions that make it easier for you to stay a few steps ahead of your competition.

Testing Team: The quality assurance and software testing team ensures to check all the elements of the application. They affirm that the features and the functions that have been integrated into your application perform well.

The team structure is such that if in any case, you feel some trouble you can get it resolved easily. This helps us maintain the workflow and stay organized.

Read Also: Car Rental Mobile App Development – Cost And Key Features

Technology Stack to Stay Ahead

Depending upon the size of the app and preferred platform, there are quite a few technologies used for different purposes. We have listed here a basic technology stack that would make it easier for you to stay updated and get a flexible and scalable solution.

Over the years we have developed solutions that are interesting and engaging and can help you be in the market for a long time. We share here some of the most important solutions that would make it easier for you to understand the working of the application.

 

  • Push Notifications: Bandwidth, Twilio
  • SMS, Voice, and Phone Verification: Nexmo
  • Online Payments: Braintree & PayPal
  • Programming: GWT
  • Data Management: Datastax
  • Email Communication and Scheduling: Mandrill
  • Operating System: Debian
  • Database:  MongoDB, Hbase, Cassandra, Postgres, MailChimp Integration
  • Cloud Environment:  AWS
  • Real-time Analytics:  Hadoop, Spark, BigData, Apache Flink, Cisco, IBM

Ridesharing App for iPhone

iPhone apps can use the Core Location framework for location monitoring purposes. Using the MapKit framework, the app suggests the shortest routes be taken. Travelers can use Bluetooth beacons and Wi-Fi for increasing the efficacy of tracking the location from GPS.

Ridesharing App for Android

Google Location Services API is used for developing the Android-based mobile app. This App can handle all types of requests from routes to directions to navigation. A user or co-traveler can use OpenStreetMap API for finding out the optimized path.

Cost for Developing Ride Sharing App

Now the main question comes down to how much it may cost to build a ride-sharing app. Well, it is quite difficult to analyze the app engineering charges as the number of attributes to be added may increase or decrease. Still, as per the estimates pricing depends on certain features such as

  • The platform selected for developing an app such as for Android, iOS, or Web, etc.
  • The technicalities of the App to be developed
  • The version of the App to be developed such as an MVP or a feature-packed mobile app
  • The app development center: The USA, the UK, Australia, India, or any other.

Therefore, depending on the above key functionalities and the parameters, the cost of developing a ride-sharing app may take about 120-150 /hours (approx) with all the user mapping and tracking features. It may consume around $8,000 to $15,000 for developing an app inclusive of all the basic attributes. If you are looking forward to building a solution that is budget-friendly, technologically advanced, scalable, and futuristic in nature then you have reached the right team.

Wrapping It Up!

When it comes to talking about the solutions that make ride-sharing an easy and feasible alternative to traveling via personal vehicle, one needs to affirm that the product they take to the market can hold you for long. We have been delivering solutions that would make it easier for the end-user to choose their ride, vehicle type and check the estimated cost. Entering the market with on-demand ride and rental apps would be the right choice as people these days now opt for solutions that are environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

We at Octal IT Solution, deliver such solutions with ease and make sure that you get the best outcomes in a limited time. We can be your technology partner in your journey. Our experts are well-versed with the latest happenings around the globe and we make sure that the solutions dropped to you are interesting, engaging, and help you earn the most profits in no time.

We have been building solutions that are engaging and can build a strong presence in the market. Over the years, we have read the market responses and affirmed that the solutions that would be deployed would be easy to navigate and help you make a strong presence in the business arena. So don’t halt for more, come and start your journey with us.

THE AUTHOR
Project Manager
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Dinesh Shilak is a tech enthusiast and a dedicated writer who brings a fresh perspective to the world of technology through his engaging blog posts. With a keen interest in the latest technological advancements, Dinesh's passion for the field shines through in his writing.

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