A local taxi company taking bookings by phone is leaving money on the table at 2 AM, on weekends, and every time the dispatcher is busy. RideCab puts a fully automated booking system on your WordPress site, customers book online, the fare is calculated automatically, payment is taken through WooCommerce, and a confirmation lands in their inbox without you lifting a finger.
This page covers RideCab’s configuration for traditional taxi companies: per-km pricing, the driver dispatch calendar, booking management admin, and how the system handles the 24/7 operation a taxi business requires.
Per-kilometre pricing for taxi companies
Per-kilometre pricing is the standard model for traditional taxi operations. The rider pays a base fare to get in the car, then a rate per kilometre driven. RideCab’s fare engine calculates this using real road distance from the Google Maps Distance Matrix API. Not straight-line, not estimated, but the actual route distance.
The formula is simple: base fare + (distance in km × per-km rate) + optional per-minute charge for driving time. Set a minimum fare to ensure short trips are profitable. Set separate rates per vehicle type. Economy sedan at £1.80/km, premium saloon at £2.80/km, minivan at £2.20/km. The taxi fare calculator for WordPress handles all of this from the vehicle configuration screen.
Customers see the fare before they confirm. No meter surprises, no arguments on arrival. That transparency converts bookings and reduces cancellations.
Driver management
RideCab links each driver to a WordPress user account. The driver profile holds their name, photo, phone number, and licence information. When you receive a booking, you assign a driver from a dropdown in the booking admin. The driver gets a notification email with it details. Pickup address, customer name and phone number, pickup time, and the route.
Drivers can log into their own mobile-friendly dashboard on your WordPress site to see their upcoming bookings. No separate app required. The dashboard shows the day’s bookings in chronological order with the route and customer contact details visible at a tap. For the full reservation and dispatch feature set, see the online taxi reservation system on WordPress guide.
The dispatch calendar
The booking calendar in RideCab is powered by FullCalendar. It shows every booking as a colour-coded event, one colour per driver. The dispatcher can see the full week at a glance, spot scheduling conflicts, reassign drivers by clicking an event, and print the day sheet for the depot wall.
Month view for planning, week view for operational oversight, day view for today’s dispatch, list view for the printed handover. Switch between them with one click. This is the tool that replaces the whiteboard and the phone calls between dispatcher and drivers.
Booking management admin
Every booking appears in the RideCab bookings list, searchable by customer name, date, status, and driver. Click any booking to see the full detail: pickup address on a map, dropoff address, customer contact, fare breakdown, payment status, assigned driver, and any special requests.
Status workflow: Pending → Confirmed → In Progress → Completed, with Cancelled available at any stage. Status changes trigger automatic emails to the customer. The booking is also a WooCommerce order, refunds, additional charges, and payment adjustments all go through the standard WooCommerce taxi booking plugin order management screen.
Automated notifications
RideCab sends automated emails at three points in the booking lifecycle:
- New booking confirmation, sent to the customer immediately after payment with the booking details and fare breakdown.
- Admin new-booking alert, sent to your admin email when a booking is placed, so you can assign a driver promptly.
- Driver assignment. Sent to the driver when you assign them to a booking, with all the trip details they need.
All emails are branded with your company name, logo, address, and contact details configured in the plugin settings. Templates are editable through the standard WordPress email customisation approach.
Scaling from 2 vehicles to 20
RideCab doesn’t charge per vehicle. The $79 one-time purchase covers any fleet size. A 2-vehicle operation and a 20-vehicle operation pay the same amount. As your fleet grows, you add vehicles to the vehicle catalogue, add drivers to the driver list, and the booking system handles the increased volume. The WordPress taxi booking system architecture scales on your hosting, upgrade hosting if needed, the plugin logic stays the same.
For operators who grow past 50 vehicles and need algorithmic real-time dispatch, that’s the point where SaaS platforms start to make sense. For everyone below that threshold, which is most local taxi companies. WordPress does the job both technically and economically.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take bookings 24/7 without a dispatcher?
Yes. The booking form on your WordPress site accepts bookings at any hour automatically. Payment is processed, confirmation emails go out, and it appears in your admin queue. You assign drivers during business hours.
How many drivers can I have?
Unlimited. RideCab doesn’t restrict driver or vehicle counts. Add as many drivers as your operation requires.
Can I have different prices for different areas of the city?
Yes. Set up geofence zones for different areas and assign different flat fares between them. Or use standard per-km pricing with night and weekend surcharges for time-based variation.
What happens to bookings that come in overnight?
They appear in your admin queue when you log in. The customer has already received their confirmation email and payment has been processed. You assign a driver the next morning and the system notifies the driver.
Can I accept cash payments?
Yes. Enable WooCommerce’s Cash on Delivery gateway. Customers book online and pay the driver in cash. The booking record is created and confirmed without requiring online payment.
Does RideCab work with my existing WordPress theme?
Yes in almost all cases. The booking form uses scoped CSS that doesn’t conflict with theme styles. If you see any visual issues, they’re typically resolved with a few lines of custom CSS.