New York City is known for its skyscrapers and subways, but the yellow taxi cab is equally iconic. Though all cabs take cash and credit cards, the Way2ride iPhone app will not only let you pay for rides with your phone, but it will also summon a cab to your location with just a few taps. Best of all, it's accepted in every single NYC taxi cab.
Start Your Engines
Way2ride is available as a free download in the App Store. I had no trouble loading it onto my iPhone 6 ( at Amazon) , and it's also available for iPad and Android. I had some trouble getting started with Way2ride, though. Unlike its competitors, Way2ride did not let me log in with Facebook and instead put me through the tedious process of creating an account by hand. Also, there is a required password field without a password-confirmation field, which is a little troubling. I am also disappointed that Way2ride does not support PayPal. Thankfully, it does support scanning your credit card's information using your phone's camera. However, I found it a bit more finicky than other services' offerings.
Throughout the signup process, I was struck by how the app looked distorted and magnified on my iPhone 6. But that all went away once I started using the app. The main portion of Way2ride looks far more crisp and refined. I'd like to see the developers iron out both the aesthetics and the usability of the signup process, since that's the first thing users encounter. Arro ($0.00 at Apple.com) , another NYC taxi app, is easier to set up.
Once you're up and running, Way2ride is very similar to Arro. Like Arro, Way2Ride lets you hail a NYC yellow cab the old-fashioned way, by waving at it from the sidewalk. When you're inside, you tell the driver your destination, tap the Check In button in the app, and pair your phone to the payment system by entering the code on the taxi's screen into the Way2ride app.
Similar Products
Arro (for iPhone)
Gett (for iPhone)
Uber (for iPhone)
Lyft (for iPhone)
Waze (for iPhone)
Transit (for Android)
Alternatively, you can summon a cab to your location by tapping the Hail button, which is a huge convenience. You select a pick-up location by moving the screen or entering a location into the search field. You can also type out a short message to send to the driver. When you're ready, you tap the clearly labeled Hail button. One thing Way2ride doesn't provide, which Arro, Lyft, and Uber ($0.00 at Apple.com) do, is an estimation of how long it will take a driver to reach you after a cab driver has answered your request.
I tested this app in a particularly taxi-rich part of town, so I didn't have to wait long before I got a response. Soon after I posted my request, the app informed me that a driver was on his way and gave me the driver's medallion number. While your car is en route, you have the option to call or message your driver. That's handy.
When you driver has arrived and checked in, you have 4 minutes to find the cab before the driver can claim a no-show. That's the same deal that Arro provides. And, like Arro, Way2ride provides an identification screen you can show to the driver to confirm you are the correct fare. That's a smart way to keep a sneaky person from stealing your cab.
Once I found my cab, I hopped in and told my driver where I was headed. Unlike Uber and Lyft ($0.00 at Apple.com) , Way2ride has no tool for providing this information by entering it on a map. After my trip began, Way2ride gave me the chance to change my payment option and tip amount up until the end of my trip. It didn't show trip progress, like Uber and Lyft did. When I arrived at my destination, my payment was processed automatically. A receipt appeared in my email inbox, and a push alert showed me the total I paid. Easy!
Great for the Big Apple
When most people think of taxi apps, they likely think of Uber, and maybe Lyft. But Way2ride is a different animal. Like Arro, it works only with official NYC yellow cabs, so when you get a ride with Way2ride you're using a tested and regulated service instead of getting into the car of a random person. Gett ($0.00 at Apple.com) is similar, though it only calls luxury livery cabs.
That said, you can use Uber to call a taxi in NYC, though doing so will cost you an additional $2. Also, Uber offers numerous different kinds of rides, including requesting vehicles with children's car seats and wheelchair-accessible cars, too. Way2ride can't do either of those, though it is compatible with all 20,000 cars in the NYC taxi fleet. That includes the green Boro cabs, which focus on passengers in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, as well as riders in the upper third of Manhattan. Arro is accepted by less than half of the NYC taxi fleet.
Ready to Ride
Way2ride got off to a bit of a rough start in my testing with an awkward account setup process. The developers would do well to overhaul the look and feel of the app for something simpler and more consistent, as close competitor Arro does. But design is not the deciding factor; the fact that Way2ride is far more widely accepted than Arro is more important.
Whether you chose to use Uber or Way2ride is a bit more complicated. Uber has many great options, including calling a wheelchair accessible vehicle. It's also accessible in 61 countries, not just in NYC. But, if you are in New York, Way2ride guarantees you a ride from a driver who's operating in a licensed and regulated industry. That's worth a lot. Whereas Uber is the overall car-service Editors' Choice for the iPhone around the world, the next time you're in PCMag's hometown, you should definitely consider using Way2ride to get around.
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