By Carlo P. Mallo
Photo by Rude Dolfo
His fleet may just be a little over 200 taxicabs plying the city streets, but his fleet is one of the most talked about and most sought after in the city.
After all, no other taxicab has made it to national news on both mainstream and social media without even having a public relations firm backing him.
And why wouldn’t he be talk of the town or the country when he is the first to introduce the ATMs and debit cards as form of payments for taxicabs in a country where having a ATMs, debit, and credit cards are seen as a form of luxury? Yes, an initial fleet of 25 taxicabs are plying the streets of Davao City not only with a Point-of-Sale (POS) machine, but also equipped with a Global Positioning System.
“If they can do this abroad, then why can’t we do it here in Davao?” Pierre Ryan Tan, owner and brainchild of the Mabuhay Black Taxi, said in a interview with Edge Davao.
While everyone is still awestruck with the recent innovation that Pierre has done with his fleet, he is already busy working with the next innovation that he will implement with his cabs.
“If you do not innovate, you will be left behind. Business is not all about the money, it’s a different sense of fulfillment when you feel proud about the products that you are offering,” Pierre said.
Since he was in college, Pierre has always thought of being in the transportation business, particularly taxicabs. “I started when I was still in college. I started with just one taxi. I learned the ropes of business with that one taxi unit,” Pierre said.
One of the first innovations that Pierre initiated was with the logo for his then white colored fleet.
“While others would put a small logo on the front two doors, I wanted my logo to occupy the entire two doors on the side of the unit. I want it to be big,” Pierre said.
Soon after, Pierre started introducing a series of innovations like putting magazines inside his taxicabs, LED signages, and introducing his blue fleet, which he dubbed as Blue Taxi. Aside from having one of the youngest fleet, Pierre also made sure that his drivers are also well dressed and properly groomed.
“It’s not just about the company image but to show them that people deserve better service. Once people realize that you have clean taxis and drivers, they will choose you over the others, which would translate to better profit for the drivers,” Pierre said.
Last June, Pierre introduced one his most ambitious innovations so far – the Black Taxi, which is equipped with a POS machine and GPS technology.
While countries like Singapore and Taiwan have applied such technology for the longest time, it is the first time that such technology is being used in the country.
“This is the direction that public transport is headed for, we just applied it before it actually arrived here,” Pierre said.
Tan said Black taxis were patterned after black-colored luxury car taxis found in other developed countries.
“We want our black taxis to be set apart from the rest; the black color denotes elegance and formality” Tan said. “But unlike other black luxury taxis abroad where there is much higher flag-down and tariff rates, Davao City Black Taxis have the same rates as regular taxis,” he added
Pierre said that Black Taxis provide comfort, convenience and safety to passengers. Black Taxi Drivers have stricter dress code, being mandated to wear black pants (no jeans, faded pants) and black leather shoes (no colored rubber shoes) they also undergo training to handle the taxis unique high-tech features.
While he revels in the publicity that is being generated by his Black Taxis, Pierre continues to oversee the operations of his fleet waking up at 6 a.m. to be in the motor pool before 8 a.m.
If one is wondering what Pierre does in the company’s motor pool at 8 a.m., he says that he will be busy putting the company logo on the next fleet of taxicabs that will arrive in the next few weeks.
“I just want to make sure that the company logo is put on correctly,” Pierre said.
