RideFair

As city dwelling software engineers, we were often asked by Uber drivers, after finding out what we do, “how much would it cost to make an Uber app?” And as software engineers, we know that answer is “a lot of time and money”. Thing is, at least half of all the drivers we spoke casually to in an Uber would ask us this question. The reason, we were told, is that Uber: Takes a large percentage from the drivers. Treats the drivers with some contempt. Drivers felt powerless when confronted with Uber policies and disputes with riders, whose side Uber would take as their default position. This isn’t unique to Uber either. Competitors (DiDi, Ola) came into the landscape, promising drivers superior fees and governance. Unfortunately the business models are the same, and ultimately the drivers become a commodity. The more we looked into it, the more we realised that where was a huge undercurrent of drivers yearning for something different. It was reminiscent of the days of Taxi co-ops. So why weren’t there any rideshare co-ops? We decided to investigate, and what we found surprised us: we found lots of groups had formed around this very idea but had found the technical and financial challenge too high a barrier. The tech was the barrier to entry. So what if there was a platform out there that would facilitate these co-ops and help them with everything from the ride hailing, governance, marketing and even accounting? Thus, RideFair was born. A free and open-source platform that will enable the birth of rideshare cooperatives around the world.