RESULTS
Manual Operations
Reduced
Ease of Use/
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Increased Revenue
By 100%
Overcoming Obstacles in Ride Sharing for the Senior and Disabled Population
SphereGen Case Study
Celebrity Shuttle
Celebrity Shuttle, a shuttle provider, specializes in providing transportation and delivery services for the elderly and disabled. Scheduling services and payment was cumbersome and error prone due to manual services management. SphereGen built a Mobile app which replaced most manual workflows and enabled the company to offer more services due to ease of information tracking and scheduling automation.
Overcoming
Obstacles in Ride
Sharing for the Senior and Disabled Population
SphereGen Case Study
Celebrity Shuttle
Celebrity Shuttle, a shuttle provider, specializes in providing transportation and delivery services for the elderly and disabled. Scheduling services and payment was cumbersome and error prone due to manual services management. SphereGen built a Mobile app which replaced most manual workflows and enabled the company to offer more services due to ease of information tracking and scheduling automation.
O V E R V I E W
Our client, Celebrity Shuttle, is a full-service shuttle provider catering to the elderly and disabled. Services include transportation and delivery of groceries, medication or food. Transportation vehicles are matched to the rider based on special needs (such as wheelchair accessible) if necessary. Serving a vital need in the community, the company was experiencing longer turnaround times in scheduling and processing due to manual operations. They needed a Mobile app which was easily available to riders and could suggest vehicle and driver matches based on rider need.
Challenges
The shuttle service operated manually, based on phone calls to the dispatch office which resulted in matching a driver and vehicle to a rider’s requests or scheduling a delivery. The manual operation was error-prone, as large amounts of information had to be collected during the call. In addition, once a rider is successfully matched, it is desirable to maintain the rider/driver pairing for repeat shuttle rides as the driver has successfully managed past requests. Manual history lookups were required to ensure that rider/driver assignments remained constant. The process was inefficient, unscalable and stymied competition with other available ridesharing companies.
SOLUTION
SphereGen built a mobile application which allows riders and nursing homes to efficiently book and pay for rides through the app. The user can also select delivery options for groceries, medications or food. Users can set up a profile which allows them to specify special needs requirements when ordering a pickup so the appropriate vehicle and driver can be assigned. All information about the service is tracked so users can view the status of their upcoming rides, the history of past orders and review or rate a ride. The app also contains a backend Admin portal which allows the company to view and report on services and dynamically control service rates and all service personnel profiles. Payment is handled through Stripe integration. With the Mobile App and Admin portal, business for Celebrity Shuttle has significantly grown. Nursing Homes can easily schedule services for their patients online. Admin can efficiently assign and dispatch drivers for all offered services. Ride, delivery and payment information is easily tracked and stored for viewing and reporting. Celebrity Shuttle now has the ability to easily scale and expand services across multiple towns and counties.
THE DETAILS
Celebrity Shuttle needed an application which provided web access for Admin to manage control data about ridesharing/delivery services and assigning drivers, as well as a Mobile application for users to easily order and pay for services.
OUR APPROACH
Building a Hybrid Mobile Application
In building a cost-effective solution for Celebrity Shuttle, which included web access and a mobile app, Angular was chosen as the development tool. An application built in Angular allows all devices to run the same code base, reducing development and maintenance costs for companion web and mobile apps.
Google Maps and SMS Integration
A Google Maps interface provides the functionality for drivers to retrieve directions to the pickup address and for riders to track the status of their driver’s journey to the address, once an assignment has been made.
Integration of SMS texting allows riders and drivers to text each other to deliver notifications or ask questions.
Dynamic Rate assignment and Stripe Payment Integration
The rates for services vary not only based on the service type (ride or delivery), but also by specific items which may affect delivery. For instance, extra fees are charged for wheelchairs and the weight/size of the chair; or for assistants to grocery shop and pickup orders. The app accommodates data input for all rate features which apply. The final fee is charged to the customer through Stripe integration. Stripe handles credit card charges and reimbursement to the company.
CONCLUSION
By building a Mobile app to handle their shuttle and delivery business, Celebrity Shuttle was able to realize the following benefits:
- Reduced time to process requests
- Greater Customer satisfaction
- Scheduling coordination much easier, happier staff
- Improved tracking of delivered rides and any problems encountered
- Direct impact to the bottom line
- Scalability
- Application maintenance on one codebase
View and download this case study here
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SIZED BUSINESSES
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