App minuses minibus stress
A new web based app is taking the stress out of front seat taxi travel by doing all the calculations for you.
FRONT SEAT FOR DUMMIES: New app Phambili is making taxi travel less stressful for commuters. Photo: Thembisile Dzonzi
If you’ve ever been in a Johannesburg taxi, you would know how daunting the task is of sitting in front and counting the fare. Even with advanced arithmetic skills, calculating change for 15 people can be daunting.
The rule is commuters who sit in front are tasked with calculating the fare for the rest of the passengers. Now, thanks to a new app called Phambili, the front seat pressure is off.
Phambili is giving the taxi industry a much needed digital face lift and making the travel experience less stressful for commuters.
Phambili allows the user to enter the taxi fare for the trip. The app then adds the number of people that have paid and the amount they have paid. Using the details provided, Phambili calculates the change and tells the user how much the driver’s money will be in total.
The app has also recently been improved with a multiple calculation platform that allows it to calculate for trips with two fares.
According to logistics company Afta Robot, the South African minibus taxi industry is serviced by more than 300,000 vehicles transporting more than 14-million daily passengers.
Phambili is also a building a database of routes and their costs.
Access the app on their website www. phambili.co.za.
You can also take their “return change challenge” to see how the app works.
