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The other day Google Labs came out with Google Ride Finder. It's pretty cool, Google is going nuts at this time on local search ideas. Google Maps, Google Satellite Maps, Google Local, Google Ride Finder and so much more. This tool actually plots down the real time location of vehicle's within the Google database. My first thoughts were..."Yea, let me check NYC, I bet it is covered with little dots." The dots represent the current location of a specific vehicle. But since SuperShuttle is the only taxi service currently participating in the program, NYC is pretty clean. A place like Washington, DC has three fleet operators.
So when can this become useful? Let's say 50% of the taxi services are signed up in NYC. Well, what is the point? There are about 5 taxis on every NYC corner. It would be a mess. And if you don't plot at least 50% of them, then what are you missing out on? I can see it being useful for small towns or for specific fleets to monitor their vehicles. But for the average person in a large city where taxis are used by everyone???
If you happen to be a taxi service and want to be included, contact google. For more information on how it works, see the Google Ride Finder Help section. GPS is cool, but where should it be used?
Forum discussion at Digitial Point Forums.
