Riders in New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia can now access Curb, the leading ride-hailing app for licensed taxi and for-hire rides in North America, in Transit, the app they already rely on to navigate public transit. Transit users can now view real-time ETAs for the nearest taxis, plan trips, and seamlessly link to the Curb app to book taxi rides. Riders can also combine taxi service with a variety of other mobility options, including trains, subways, buses, bikeshare, and shared scooters, thanks to Transit’s multimodal trip planner.
Since first launching the integration in New York City in March, Curb and Transit have made taxis more accessible for commuters by connecting taxis into the digital mobility landscape in the city. Expanding this partnership to three more cities comes at a time when Curb taxi use is on the rise across major U.S. cities, with NYC seeing exponential usage growth since launching upfront pricing in 2020. Curb reported a 200% increase in average daily ride volume in NYC since April 2021. More recent launches in Chicago and Washington D.C. have resulted in increases of over 400% in average daily bookings, reflecting a nationwide trend of greater taxi usage compared to other point-to-point alternatives.
Commuters have seen rideshare pricing and wait times increase recently due to the shortage of rideshare drivers in the face of a sharp uptick in demand. This has enabled Curb to become a preferred alternative with its low-cost, predictable pricing that doesn’t surge during times of increased demand.
To connect riders with the convenience, reliability, and low price points of taxis, Curb offers upfront pricing for riders on taxi trips in each city, giving users the confidence of knowing ahead of time exactly what they’ll pay for each ride. By tapping into Curb’s mobility infrastructure and expansive network of connected taxis, the Transit app displays real-time taxi information to help make e-hailing as simple as possible for users, including ETAs and upfront fares, so users can accurately compare estimated trip times and prices with other options.
“The feedback we’ve received from Transit riders in NYC has been overwhelming, so expanding to more cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., was a natural next step,” said Jason Gross, Vice President, Mobile, at Curb. “We’re continuing to improve the rider experience with integration solutions that provide an easier way for commuters to combine taxis into their travel plans and take advantage of the tried and true transportation option in metropolitan areas.”
Like public transit, taxis are a central part of any city’s transportation infrastructure: they are clearly marked, highly regulated, operated by licensed drivers, and required to adhere to sanitation guidelines, all of which allow taxis to provide riders with a safe, reliable, and consistent experience.
“Our mission at Transit is to help people get around cities without their own car, and taxis provide a critical point-to-point service in dense cities that put public transit at the heart of their mobility ecosystem. Expanding our partnership with Curb from New York to Chicago, Philly, and D.C. makes it even easier for riders to integrate taxis into their transit connections,” said Jake Sion, Chief Operating Officer at Transit. “Whether you’re a daily commuter, or just in town for the day, the easier we make it to combine core transportation options like taxis and public transit, the better off our cities will be.”