There is a new transportation app cruising the Las Vegas strip.
Integrity Vehicle Solutions says its Ride Genie e-hailing app gives smartphone users the ability to get access to nearly 400 town cars, SUVs and limos from a number of transportation companies. It's not a ride-share app, stresses the company.
"Think of it as a supplement to the transportation industry, where popular ridesharing applications compete with the industry instead," states a Ride Genie spokesperson.
It is a sign that Las Vegas, with its strict taxi policies, could be opening its doors to the ride-sharing phenomenon that has become successful in other cities in the country.
Taxis are predicted to gain from the new Ride Genie app over the next two months as they will be picking up many of the reservations.
"The riding public can take advantage of the convenience of technology without losing the assurances that the driver and car that they hail are properly inspected, regulated, licensed and insured," said Ride Genie CEO Mark James, former CEO of the Frias cab and limo company, which is among several firms offering services through the app.
In a way, it is a collective and sharing app system that neither ride-share app services Uber nor Lyft have been able to achieve. Individual companies "were able to put their competitive differences aside to create a better consumer experience," James said, which should help deliver high quality service that professional drivers can give.
All drivers will be regulated through Las Vegas' taxi authority and personal cars and shuttles will not be allowed. The app adds a default 20 percent tip to each ride, but gives passengers the ability to change or remove the gratuity if they want at the end of the ride. There is a five dollar fee for Ride Genie added to each fare.
It could set the groundwork for a regulated Uber and Lyft entrance into the much regulated market. Both ride-sharing apps have expressed their desire to enter the city's market, but have been rebuffed.
It also comes on the heels of a spat between Uber and Lyft over predatory practices by each company against each other, Tech Times reports.
Each company seems to be going back and forth, making claims against their rival app company in what appears to be the first major public spat between the ride-sharing apps.
The battle for ride-sharing supremacy has heated up this year, with Lyft in April announcing a number of price cuts that were aimed at battling against Uber's popularity. Lyft announced that it was pushing into 24 new cities across the United States, bringing its total cities to 60, surpassing competitor Uber, who currently is in 48 cities in the country, but over 100 globally.
