Car pooling and ride-sharing apps have made our life easier than ever before. Every person uses the services of these apps, but do you know how these apps operate? However, carpooling, ride-sharing, and cab booking apps have the same meaning in general but are different in their usage. 

We avail the service while travelling to our college or office or visiting our relatives or friends. People benefit from these apps as we save fuel costs and eliminate the tension of parking the car when we visit crowded places. 

We can use promo codes to redeem the points we got from the offers and campaigns. You know the features of ride-sharing apps, but do you know how these apps operate?

Also Read: 3 Services You Can Enjoy With M-Rides

Difference Between Car Pooling And Ride Sharing Apps  

Ride-sharing service seems just to connect passengers and captains, but the fact of the matter is that ride-sharing apps have several features and operating departments, and apart from that, it also provides jobs to many people. All the apps are the same with different names, but actually, they are different in terms of features and operations. 

Ride Sharing Apps 

The Ridesharing app is a service that connects drivers and passengers for a one-way commute on short notice. The app has software which uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) system. This backend system locates the closest available car and connects it with a passenger looking for a ride for the driver. 

Ride-sharing apps are currently in 45 countries expanding in the United States and South Asia. You need a smartphone and credit card, although many apps accept cash. One must download the app to avail the service. The app is usually available on both Android and iOS. 

How To Use The App

After downloading the app, you can start with the ride-sharing app. All you need is to fill out the necessary information, which includes name, phone number, email, and payment details. 

When you are done entering all the details, you will request a ride; make sure your location feature is turned on. You can enter the current location or pickup location, the desired destination, and the type of vehicle you want to travel on. Within seconds the app will locate the available cars nearby you, and any driver will accept your ride request.

Also Read: How Car Booking App Has Made Your Life Easy

After accepting the ride, the location of the cab and the distance left to your destination will be visible to you. Soon the driver arrives at your location, and you can set off to your destination.

Fare Calculation In Ride Sharing Apps

Fares in ride-sharing apps are calculated using several perimeters. The measures used are Cost per Minute: the fare calculator charges for every minute from the moment the ride begins; traffic and other circumstances are considered. 

The second way is Cost per Mile: here, the app charges customers for every mile driven. This way, the customer is not worried about the traffic where time is wasted. Drivers usually take the fastest route but choose a different route if traffic occurs.

Cab Booking Apps 

Cab booking apps can be simply defined as online taxi services meant for pick and drop. Cab-booking app is different from ride-sharing and carpooling apps with fewer features. 

Unlike ride-sharing apps, in a cab booking service, one can only get a taxi ride before entering all the details, which include pickup location and desired destination. The app management offers a pre-quote to the customer, which one can accept or reject. Within an estimated time frame, the taxi or the cab arrives at the location entered. 

You do not have the option to choose between drivers and cars. 

Fares Are Pre-decided

In-cab booking apps, a fare calculator, do not extract the fare. The company has its own designed price calculation system, which covers various aspects such as distance from the pickup location and drop-off and the estimated time. 

The company usually charges the payment before dispatching the cab. Compared to ride-sharing apps, where drivers are not full-time employees of the company and are free to choose their working hours. 

Cab booking app drivers are mostly permanent salaried employees who must remain in one location and wait for the ride ordered. They have to report on specific timing; the good part is that the drivers are not worried if there are fewer rides on some days, and a salary is fixed for their duty time. 

Car Pooling Apps

You can say that carpooling apps have reduced the demand for ride-sharing apps. The system followed is very different in these apps as the main motive is not to create a ride-booking service, but you can say to connect a person going alone in his/her own car to the office or any other place with one who is finding a ride. 

The formula is to provide a cheap ride to the person who does not have convenience with one who has his/her own car but is not intended to drive in a ride-sharing app. This app makes it easy for both as the person looking for a ride pays less fare than the ride-sharing app, and the one driving his car covers his fuel cost as his motive is not to make a profit. 

The interesting part of carpooling apps is that more than one person can share the ride at a time; the condition is all of them should have a common destination. Most of the carpooling apps are used by employees as pick and drop for Offices. 

Wrapping Up 

We discussed the main differences between carpooling, cab booking and ride-sharing apps in this blog. Moreover, how do they operate, and how are the fares calculated? These apps have made our lives easier and also benefit society.