Unique 'text a taxi' service is the safe way to get home

Unique 'text a taxi' service is the safe way to get home






BY CIARAN WOODS



PEOPLE ordering a taxi in Strabane now have a whole new option thanks to an innovative new service introduced by one of the towns leading taxi groups.
Customers of Mourne, Whitestar and Strabane Taxis can now "Text a Taxi" instead of calling, with the new service being hailed as efficient and safe by owner, Liam McDaid.

"The service makes it a lot safer, and it saves people standing around outside pubs and clubs late at night, or at a taxi rank.

"They text us the details, and they get a message back which says how long their taxi will be, the drivers name, a description of the taxi and the registration number.

"If they're inside a place, they also get a message when we arrive telling them that their taxi is outside for them. It's incredibly safe," he said.

The customer simply texts the word "Taxi" followed by Whitestar, Mourne or Strabane, then their name and details of what the taxi run is, to 82820.

"This is then processed by someone by computer at the taxi depot, who allocates the taxi and sends out the reply message informing the customer of the booking details.

The invention has been designed by Derry man Lawrence Kendall, and the local firm is the first in this area to introduce the system.

"With a number of well-publicised attacks on women in Strabane in recent months, Liam felt that the time was right to offer their customers a new, and safe, way of getting home at night.

"With everything that has gone on in recent months, it was important for us to act in the interests of our customers.

"Hopefully, it will help people to go out with peace of mind, knowing that they won't end up trying to flag down a taxi in the middle of the night.

"It's really taken off in Derry and we're sure that it'll be the same here once people get used to it," he concluded