Check out the Cabulous story, as told by founder, Tal Flanchraych, and the Whitehouse.gov team Startup America.

Startup Stories: Connecting Cabs and Customers

(exerpt)

To celebrate the first six months of the White House-led Startup America initiative, this week we are highlighting the stories of real entrepreneurs who are creating jobs across the country.

The Startup America initiative aims to create the right policy environment for entrepreneurs to flourish.  For example, the President signed into law a 100% capital gains tax cut for investment in small businesses made throughout 2011. The President’s budget would make this tax incentive permanent.

Taxi drivers in America can spend as much as 57% of their day driving around an empty cab. In most cities and towns, there is almost always an available taxi within an acceptable distance to someone who needs a ride, but the cabs are “out of sight and out of mind,” and, rather than finding one that might be around the corner, people get in their cars and drive, adding to congestion, pollution and the number of intoxicated drivers on the road.

It makes sense that if drivers were more visible, if potential passengers had the equivalent of x-ray vision to spot and hail cabs from blocks away, drivers would make more money and communities would benefit from improved transit efficiency.  My partners and I spotted an opportunity, and outlined a plan for a company we called Cabulous. Our goal? Putting an end to “invisible taxi drivers” — and to wasteful inefficiency.

Read the rest of the story here.

Cabulous Founder, Tal Flanchraych

Just got this feedback note from a Cabulous passenger today:

I called a cabbie 845am this morn (Royal Taxi) from the cabulous website on my EVO android pda.

I selected the nearest cab, was just 2 blocks away.

He was at the door as I descended the steps, less than 1 minute.

He reported that he had been operating w Cabulous for abt 1 month.

He got between 2-10 rides/day thru Cabulous, avg 3-5.

He estimated he got extra $ 30-50 per day due to Cabulous (abt $ 1000/mo improvement in net revenue)

Big benefit was shortened “cruising” time and gas expense.

He wanted a Cabulous sticker in the cab to educate customers.

A Cabulous Monday

The addition of free Cabulous dispatch tools, the new Nokia 5230 offer for taxi drivers, and the new iPhone update enabling Cabulous to run in the background all contributed to this picture.