Rate A Taxi Driver Added To App

By Mike Wheeler

Generally, I like taxi drivers, especially in Sydney. Most I have come across are from different parts of the world, and I find it really interesting to talk to them about how they got here, what life was like in the old country, and whether their expectations when coming to the Lucky Country have panned out.

Most I have found a lot fun and their anecdotes can make a boring journey into an informative one and, especially to a white-bread boy like me, makes for an upbeat insight into the cosmopolitan make-up of the city

Then there is the odd one that just makes me shake my head and wonder how they evrer got their taxi licence. I remember one guy being stuck at two turns of traffic lights (when he could have rounded the corner both times) while the meter turned over, while in another instance the driver ‘forgot’ to turn the meter on, and tried to charge me $35 for what was a regular $20 trip. However, there is my firm favourite – an expletive-ridden trip witha driver from the former Soviet Union who, although not personally abusive to me, thought we were somehow kindred spirits and felt comfortable to liberally litter his diatribe against Communism with two of the most offensive words in the English language.

Where is this all leading to? Well, app developer goCatch has added a new feature to its taxi booking app of the same name so you can now rate your driver. Some taxi drivers will not be too happy about it, but with a

"We believe good taxi drivers should be recognised,” Andrew Campbell, co-founder of goCatch. “The internet, and now smart phone apps like goCatch, allow us to make choices based on our own and other people's experiences. It means customers will gravitate to those drivers who deliver the best service".

GoCatch users can see drivers in their vicinity on a map, then click on a taxi icon to see the driver name and rating. If you have favourite drivers you can see if they are out and about. If not you can pick a driver based on how the community of passengers has rated each of them.