The Mayor of Belmopan is planning to bring innovation to his city a year before the next municipal election.
As a response to community safety concerns, the mayor is getting ready to launch what he calls "Uber style" taxi service application.
Similar applications have been attempted and have failed but Pablo Cawich is determined that his model will not only work to benefit consumers and taxi drivers but to enhance safety in the community:
Pablo Cawich, Mayor of Belmopan
"We have developed and are scheduled to start testing an Uber-style system taxi service for Belmopan where only registered taxis would be listed. It was also designed with a Belizean culture touch where the Belizean residents can still have their four or five preferred taxi operators that would always be their first hit if they are already occupied with certain runs. It will inform them what their closest available time would be. So they decide if they wait for their specific people or are just going with the closest taxi man. The system will generate the fee based on distance. We are trying to do it also where it would have a share option because some people don't mind sharing a taxi when they're on a run. Others do mind and obviously want the service for themselves only. So all of these things are important and are taken into consideration. It will help in the case of who the taxi driver is and who the client is. So even if they're picking up somebody at 2 o'clock in the morning, we would know who the driver was and who the client was."
