Assignment

Journal Entry. The Journal function in Interact2 must be used. External journal sites are not permitted. If your country geo-blocks Interact2 website or your circumstance prevents you from accessing the Internet (eg. due to a disability or if you are in a correctional centre), please contact your lecturer immediately. If it is an office/organisation firewall preventing access, you must find an alternative Internet access point to complete this task.

Warning: Entering or editing data in this journal entry after 2359 hours on 4 April will result in deduction of marks (as specified in Penalties for Late Submission).

BidTaxi is a new taxi service that improves the ride-sharing service. Rather than working on pre-fixed rates based on distance and time, BidTaxi uses a bidding service for rides. A customer states the beginning and ending point of the journey, time and number of passengers. The system will then broadcast to the drivers who will then bid for the service within ten minutes. A comprehensive set of tools such as distance, route, estimated time, toll costs, etc. will be provided on the app to both parties. An estimated cost will even be provided. The customer will see in real time the responses by the drivers. And once selected, the cost is locked in. Payment will only be released to the driver-provider at the end of the journey as determined by Global Positioning System (GPS) location. The entire journey will be tracked.

To achieve this goal, it has embarked on the following:

1) BidTaxi requires all drivers to be certified, vehicle thoroughly checked for road worthiness and appropriate insurances paid.

2) The system will allow both customer and driver to rate each other and provide comments. A star-rating system will appear for both customer and driver next to their online verified IDs.

3) Customers without smartphones or tourists may use a web site to book ahead. Those without credit/debit cards may use Osko or purchase gift cards from supermarkets. Osko payments will be held by BidTaxi office.

4) To encourage service loyalty, each customer is given status points for rides paid. These points can be used as discounts for future trips, given as tips to drivers or can be donated to charity.

5) Driver-providers who complete a target of time and distance over a self-set period will be rewarded with fuel discount gift cards by the company.

Question 1 (1500 words)

Write a well presented report for the above outlining the business operation to the Ministry of Public Transportation. Provide any three recommendations that are well substantiated with journal literature and referenced correctly to support this service. (You may use the reasons/justifications above or use your own - that support this service).

Question 2 (500 words)

Provide any two suggestions into improving business service/operation offerings substantiated with current literature. These two items have not been mentioned above. An example could be driver training.

All referencing to be done in APA 6th edition. Only one reference list is required at the end of both questions.