Upfront pricing app ‘Curb’ helps Chicago taxis go meterless

CHICAGO – With prices for ridesharing services rising, taxi drivers are hoping a new app feature will level the playing field.

As of Wednesday, the day Chicagoans see the taximeter tick higher and higher may be over. Curb ride-hailing app introduces upfront pricing for taxi drivers which took a serious blow with competition from rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.

“They’re used to using the app and seeing the taxi pick them up and they get in, the meters up and they don’t know what they’re going to pay until they’re done,” said Jason Gross, VP of Mobile at Curb. “So by introducing prices up front, we gave the drivers the experience they expect, but also allowed them to compare prices.

In recent months, rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft have seen wait times and prices skyrocket. Some analysts found that the cost of a ride had increased 40% this spring compared to a year earlier.

Gross said surge pricing will not be a feature in the app.

“There’s no one time, 1.5 times, twice, five times, as I’m sure Chicagoans see in the other rideshare apps,” he said. “So what you get is a lot more predictable about what you’re going to pay.

Chicago is part of a nationwide rollout of the advance pricing feature. The company tested the option in New York. According to Gross, they have seen a 500% increase in volume on the Curb app since the beginning of the year.

WGN reached out to Uber and Lyft about the recent price hikes and wait times. A response was not immediately available. However, a post on Lyft’s website claims that the number of new drivers increased by 10% in May and that waiting times across the country fell by more than 15% on average.