ingogo | Blog

When I took on the role of CEO in April, 2020 - not long after we'd made the decision to suspend services as a result of COVID-19 - I never imaged it would be almost a year before Australia's borders were consistently open to interstate travellers, that we'd have crowds in stadiums, that international travel would still be so far away, and that we'd be finally bringing ingogo back online.

The pandemic was incredibly hard on the taxi industry.  With drivers off the road almost entirely, our frontline staff were stood down.  Those that remained talked daily with our drivers struggling to make ends meet, and we weren't able to do much to help, not immediately anyhow.  

Technology is making it easier to stay connected with your workforce wherever they happen to be working on any given day.  With everything that's happened around the world, the flexibility to transition a people driven company to remote work was crucial for ingogo. For 12 months now, ingogo has worked without an office, yet our team feel just as connected.   When we entered lockdown, we stayed productive and quickly developed new ways of working.  It was so good, we now work wherever there is power and a good internet connection.  Here's how we did it. 

We have continued to operate over the past two weeks while following the advice of health authorities to ensure that those stuck overseas or interstate could get home, and those of you who rely on us to move around could prepare for tighter restrictions ahead.  Likewise, we wanted to provide every opportunity for our drivers to continue to work while it was deemed safe to do so.

Christmas has passed and you’ve had more than your fair share of  turkey and ham, but the silly season is far from over. With New Year's Eve (NYE)  just around the corner, things are about to get very busy. NYE presents a great opportunity to work, with thousands of people in and around the city. Navigating these crowds is the key, so we’ve made a list of all the road closures to make your night a little easier.

With the year winding down, the chaos is only just starting to pick up. Christmas is a notoriously busy, even in taxi land. So if you're working this chaotic (wonderful) time of the year, here are our tips to getting through it.

Picture this: You’ve just welcomed 2019 and after an early morning bite, it’s time to make your way home for a New Year’s Day sleep-in.

It’s a standard scenario, but it also comes with a common problem (which can be very frustrating to try and solve at 3am).  

With thousands of people having the same game plan to catch a ride home, you’ll likely be faced with two choices in your quest to get home conveniently and comfortably.

If you are one of the lucky ones heading away on an amazing tropical adventure over the holidays, you aren't the only ones! In 2017, Australian residents undertook 9,118,000 outbound international trips. Can you imagine how many were over the holiday period?

Are you about to jet-set on a Christmas holiday, or are you rounding up your last business trip for the year?

Heading to the airport can be a headache. You can spend hours Googling only to find expensive long-term car parking options and coupled with that comes the hassle of dragging 30kg of luggage on and off cramped shuttle buses.

It should go without saying that if you’re going for a celebratory night out, leaving the car at home is the best idea. Not only do you not need to worry about choosing a sober, designated driver (and relying on them to take their role seriously), but you can rest easy without being concerned about finding a parking space, paying parking fees, and potentially vacating the parking station before it closes for the night.

Corporate travel can be stressful at times, but a well-executed venture can secure your company new clients. The logistics of getting from A to B problem-free in an unknown city is almost as complex and time-consuming to plan as a business meeting!

Do you own a car and live in the city or inner suburbs? With cars being so expensive to run, the chances are you’ve probably considered whether it’s even worth owning one. And with living costs in Australian cities rising faster than the rest of the world, now might be the time to wave goodbye to your wheels. But would you really benefit from not owning a car or would it be a burden?

ingogo has revolutionised the taxi business for both passengers and drivers. This is a timely advancement, considering that the competition for taxis, Uber and other ridesharing services, has created a lot of buzz in the last couple of years. Yet taxis remain the better option for an array of reasons – especially when you book your taxi in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth with ingogo.

There are so many reasons why ingogo is the top notch way to travel by taxi in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. From easy app-based taxi bookings to tracking your cab and communicating by phone with your driver, to even earning Qantas Frequent Flyer points on eligible trips, you know that when you use ingogo, you’re getting the very best in service and quality that the taxi industry has to offer.

Last week we started looking at some of the world’s weirdest taxis, and here is the conclusion to that list. In the countries they are used, they aren’t weird at all, but to us in Australia who are used to the basic sedan which represents most taxis in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, these are a little eye opening to say the least!

There are very few surprises when you book a taxi in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth; you know you’re getting a standard vehicle. But elsewhere in the world this isn’t necessarily the case.

If you are a business, there will almost certainly be times when you need to arrange transportation for your employees. This may be for attendance at meetings, conferences, or any other business travel purpose. Sometimes it may be by air, but most times transport will require a taxi.

Empowering our passengers and drivers to build better connections and enhance their experiences has been a goal for us at ingogo for some time. Being able to give passengers the ability to favourite drivers when you have a fantastic trip in an ingogo taxi so you can request them again on your next trip or if you have a poor experience,  let us know immediately so we can address the issue.

While a Sydney taxi (or one anywhere in Australia for that matter) is usually quite comfortable, we don’t have a unique and instantly recognisable taxi design. This is not the case everywhere; some places have very notable taxi designs, and perhaps the most iconic, instantly recognisable taxi in the world is the London Black Cab.

In Australia, you’re almost guaranteed of at some point riding in a taxi – in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, as well as other capital and large city centres .

Etiquette rules apply to almost any social norm you can think of, yet they may differ all over the world. There are even etiquette guidelines that apply when you book a taxi in Sydney or elsewhere in Australia.

Travelling safely and efficiently for work is something that affects businesses and employees all over Australia, but no more so than in our busy capital cities. It’s crucial that business travel, whether it is locally for meetings, or to and from the airport for more distant travel, is managed efficiently, planned ahead, and receipted properly.

We’ve talked in past articles about why taxis are such a great way to travel, and we’ve explained why the ingogo app is such an innovation in taxi booking in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. More and more passengers are discovering for themselves how beneficial ingogo is and how convenient it can be to book, track, and pay for your fixed fare taxi instantly via your smartphone.

Is there anything more exciting than going to the airport to embark on a holiday? Maybe that 6 am red-eye flight for business comes close? Whether you’re flying within Australia or going overseas, going to the airport is the first step on your adventure.

But is there anything more frustrating than having to park your car at the airport for exorbitant fees? Or worrying about the surge pricing of your Uber? Or being concerned that your taxi won't turn up on time?

Booking an ingogo taxi in advance to take you to the airport is the answer.

Here are five reasons why you should take a taxi through ingogo when you need to go to the airport.

So many of us regularly make a taxi booking in Sydney or elsewhere, yet we rarely if ever think about the history of the taxi. Have you ever wondered how (and when) taxi cabs came to be? Like so much we take for granted, most of us just assume they have always been there…

It’s a question that many of us ask when we hail or book a taxi or Uber: With so many drivers out there, not all of them required to follow the same training and security checks, it can be a matter of concern for some passengers.

One of the things that makes the ingogo app and service so unique is our commitment to Fixed Fare bookings, which are convenient for both our passengers as well as our drivers.