TADA, a rideshare app based in Singapore that operates in five different countries, will help Co-Op Colorado build a new app based on TADA’s existing software. Drivers and riders have reported the co-ops current app can still be buggy over seven months after launching.
The partnership with Co-Op Colorado will be TADA’s first expansion into the United States.
The Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center has worked with drivers and state regulators to get the app up and running. According to the center's executive director, Minsun Ji, Co-Op Colorado has been providing around 1,500 rides per month since the app launched last August. That number isn’t too shabby considering their limited resources, but it's nowhere near competitive with Uber and Lyft, she says.
According to Ji, the TADA partnership represents a chance to streamline the Co-Op app to better serve drivers and customers at a lower cost.
“They are coming in to really support us, to customize everything that we need here in Colorado,” Ji says.
The app technology will be owned by TADA, but the co-op itself will remain driver-owned. The co-op is still in charge of taking care of the drivers, complying with Colorado law and the rest of business operations except for app development, according to Co-Op Colorado.
The current app will remain in place until the end of April, after which the Co-Op will take a brief break to conduct beta testing on the new platform, with plans to relaunch during the summer.
Under the partnership agreement, the new app will still be branded as Co-Op Colorado, Ji confirms, but with a new logo.
According to TADA, it does not take a commission from drivers but instead charges a flat fee of around 60 cents per ride; TADA isn’t charging the co-op for the technology services beyond the ride fee.
“Our effort to match business by demand is not really proportionate to the distance,” explains TADA CEO Sean Kim. “The driver consumes their energy, gas, time, effort, so they deserve more. When a driver drives a $100 trip versus a $10 trip, why do we get like $20 when our job is just matching trips?”
Since the co-op is driver-owned, the board of directors — made up of elected drivers — made the decision. Drivers who aren’t on the board, like Shawn Strain, were excited by the announcement.
“Early on, I started voicing concerns about, 'Do we have the right toolbox to be able to suit our needs for a long-term solution that's going to be equitable for both the co-op, the drivers and the passengers?'” Strain says.
Strain drives for Uber, Lyft and is a member of the co-op. That’s the case for most of the drivers he knows. He’d prefer to use the co-op more than Uber and Lyft because the earnings per trip are much higher, but he says the co-op app’s inconsistencies have made the transition difficult.
App Improvements Ahead, for Drivers and Riders
Strain’s biggest frustration is the app’s notification system. Lyft and Uber have different audio pings telling drivers a ride is available so they can accept their next trip without taking their eyes off the road. The co-op app didn’t have an audio element to the notification system so Strain says it was difficult to use while driving and, oftentimes, he would miss available rides through Co-Op entirely.
Riders were also impacted. Wait times were elongated because Co-Op has a smaller driver base than Lyft or Uber, but Strain believes the missing ride notifications also contributed to wait times.
Additionally, even when a driver would accept a ride, the app seemed to struggle to locate drivers accurately.
“We had a driver that reported to me a couple weeks ago...he was up in Denver and got a ride for down in Colorado Springs, and he was, literally, as a crow flies, about 47 miles away from the ride,” Strain says. “I was about eight miles from the ride and didn't get a notification for the ride.”
Strain says he also received feedback from riders that the app had told them he was much closer or farther than he was, which could complicate pickup timing.
“There were some pretty severe disconnects,” he says.
Strain started telling riders to schedule their rides in advance as much as possible to alleviate the problems.
That was also Westword’s recommendation when we tested the app shortly after Co-Op Colorado went live. We found that on-demand pickups were unreliable and had some weird blips with notifications or the location of our drivers. Generally, scheduled rides seemed to work decently, but that made it hard to use the app consistently to replace other rideshare options.
“We all hate change, but this is one of those where change is good,” Strain says of the co-op bringing in TADA to make a new app. “Change is necessary for the continuation of the co-op.”
The new app will still show a clear breakdown of what riders paid in every receipt, which is now required in Colorado despite a lawsuit from Uber.
The TADA-created app will be able to host promotions and discounts, which the current app cannot do. Strain would also like to see a pet ride option on the new app, which Uber and Lyft both offer, to allow drivers to select if they are open to transporting dogs and cats along with people.
Ji says Co-Op Colorado appreciates those who have stuck with the company in the early stages, adding that the drivers are considering offering a discount or promotion of some sort to those customers when the new app launches.
“Some of the loyal people, it doesn’t matter, they wait until the driver comes,” Ji says. “We really want to start with supporting those riders, just to thank them for being so patient with us.”
The last day the current app will work is April 30. Drivers will test the app in May by invite only, with a soft relaunch to the public planned in June before a grand relaunch in July.
