Take a Drop

My driver, Sean, stands outside, patiently waiting to hold my door open. I get inside, sink into the plush interior. I could get used to this.

This is not exactly what I was expecting when embarking on my experiment with Drop, the country’s newest door to door taxi service.

I ply Sean with questions during our 45-minute journey. He is friendly, unwaveringly polite throughout the process and our conversation is punctuated only by the instructions of the WAVE gps system used by the service.

“It guides you around traffic,” informed Sean.

On the display, I could see the time taken for our journey and the distance travelled. But there are other features connected with the service.

For instance, there is an app you can download to your smartphone allowing you to see a picture of your driver, his car, track his progress along his way to you, as well as estimate your fare. If you are old school, there is a toll-free number connecting you to a dispatch centre. You receive a text message confirming your appointment and a call when the driver is on his way.

“When the call comes into the dispatch centre, the GPS selects the driver closest to the pick up location,” co-owner, Andre Attale said during an interview later during the day. “ The driver has 15 seconds to answer. If he doesn’t, it goes on to the next closest driver.” The drivers were handpicked after a stringent screening process, including background checks and insurance and safety checks for the cars. Out of the original 70 applicants, 30 were selected with the help of an HR agency. Police certificates of character are required and regularly renewed. Sean took the trouble to show me his.

Safety, said Attale, was Drop’s number one priority. But reliability and convenience were also key.

Attale said reliability comes with the number of drivers on the road. Recruitment is on-going to ensure that the service has the full complement of qualified drivers in an area.

While other services internationally based their charges on time or distance travelled, Drop focused on zones. There are currently seven zones.

“We did it that way to be clear and transparent. You can relax during the ride, not worrying about the driver taking the wrong road or traffic causing the fare to build up,” said Attale.

A standard fee is applied to travel any distance within a zone. Once a zone is crossed, another standard fare is applied. A night rate was recently introduced between 1 am and 5 am at a premium of the standard rate. Attale explained this was to incentivize drivers and motivate them to take on night jobs, keeping the number of cars on the road at an optimal level, 24 hours a day. The drivers make a percentage of all drops, the higher the fare, the bigger the percentage.

In return, they have to pay a fee to register with Drop and to have access to the company’s database of clients.

Attale said Drop’s biggest competitive advantage was the convenience it offers to its users.

“ There are other players in the market, one of them even has an app, but it only routes you to existing taxi services and you then have to discuss fares with them. (That) is not a seamless service. Our edge is our versatility. We are the only one with a dispatch centre you can call, or, you can use the app. We also take cash or credit card.” Currently, your credit card must be pre-registered to be used for payment, but Attale promises customers will be able to use it over the phone within weeks.

There were also features unique to the TT market that Drop is poised to respond to perfectly. Attale used our traffic situation as an example.

“You have to get to a business meeting in town. You have to hustle, find a park, worry about being wrecked, With Drop, you can go into town, come back at your convenience.” With the upsurge in alcohol consumption expected for the Christmas and Carnival seasons, Drop may also be able to safely deliver more limers, feters and masqueraders to their homes.

“There was and need and nobody was there, presenting a business opportunity. We saw it as an opportunity to bring something new to TT,” he said.

The service started in September with 30 clients and 5 zones between Chaguaramas and Arima. Attale said they are now up to 300 users, powered by repeat business and referrals and the service now goes to Central and parts of South.

In the future, Attale said there are plans to map Tobago and extend the service there as well as to establish the company “up the islands”.

Attale also said service will eventually be differentiated, with customers being able to request travel in premium vehicles.