We observed that rideshare was quickly winning over consumers with its convenient way of utilising modern technology and enforcing a higher level of service, but we also noticed many issues that existed.

Taxis, on the other hand, relied on outdated technologies and processes and were less appealing to consumers. There was a general lack of desire to improve the taxi space as they felt their industry was somewhat protected.

We believed there was so much unrealised potential that could be tapped into if we merged the best of both these worlds together.

We envisioned a more levelled operating environment based on a new technology platform that, developed from the ground up, would benefit both passengers and drivers alike.

The platform would merge the benefits of providing regulated unbooked services with the benefits of providing modern booked services into a unified turn-key solution that would empower all forms of transport.

To realise our vision we decided to pick the best parts from leading rideshare and taxi technologies, identify areas for improvement, apply modern engineering and development practices with loads of innovation.

The resultant vision was to provide a new solution that could facilitate unified, seamless, secure and cost effective on-demand transport for the entire industry.

We learned very quickly that tackling the taxi industry was more difficult than the rideshare industry as it was a highly regulated one, especially in our homebase of Melbourne, Australia.

Every state in Australia has its own legislation for meter functions, fare calculations, security camera operation, disability and levy schemes, safety management, data retention, payment systems and many other functional and non-functional requirements.

Consequently, many custom-built systems have evolved over time to meet specific aspects of the legislators’ requirements such as metering, dispatch, camera, distress calls, disability and levy schemes to name a few.

Over the past 7 years we have relentlessly innovated with new design concepts and experimented with hardware and software implementations in order to overcome the plethora of issues that were encountered.

We are immensely proud that we have successfully arrived at our “taxi-in-a-box” solution that not only meets all mandatory regulatory requirements but excels with so many class leading features in one super compact turn-key solution.

We call it VDS3 – “VDS” is short for Vehicle Dispatch System and the “3” represents the 3rd generation.

We believe that VDS3 is not only the most compact taxi solution in the world but also the most versatile and extensive one, boasting features that other taxi systems struggle to keep up with.

Needless to say, the unit has been thoroughly tried and tested and is currently deployed in over one thousand cars across Australia. VDS3 consistently operates in some of the harshest environmental conditions in Australia – dust, heat and humidity, testing its robustness to its limit.

By feeding results from each hardware and software iteration back into R&D, we are able to enforce a rigorous improvement process. Net-Cabs is passionate about continuous innovation.

We relish opportunities for improvement, whether that be industry standards, hardware or software development.

We would be delighted to get your feedback on any aspect of our solutions. Feel free to send us an email.