Looking to earn a few more bucks with your taxi booking business?
Operating a taxi booking business is all about putting a smile on your customers’ faces, keeping your drivers busy, and keeping your bottom line in check.
One way to do this is to apply peak hour pricing. Peak hour pricing is a method whereby you charge more when demand is higher, such as rush hour or late-night weekend rides.
If you’re already using the eCab Taxi Booking Manager for WooCommerce, their Peak Hour Pricing Addon accomplishes this quite easily. In this guide, you will learn what peak hour pricing is, why it’s great for your business, and how to implement it in just a few easy steps. Let’s get started.
What is meant by peak hour?
Imagine it’s 7 AM on a Monday, and everyone’s trying to get to work. Or it’s Sunday night, and everybody’s going out to dinner or a party. These are rush hours—moments when there are hundreds of individuals who desire a cab but aren’t necessarily accessible to drivers to greet them. When these moments of peak usage strike, demand surges through the ceiling, and wait times increase. Taxi peak hour surcharge, by being slightly more expensive, incentivizes drivers to go out and deters your business from keeping pace.
Why Use Peak Hours for Your Taxi Booking Website?
Having a taxi fare peak hour is a win-win. Why it’s such a great choice is as follows:
- Make More Money: More money per fare during peak hours means more money in your pocket, especially in high-demand zones like downtown or the airport.
- Get More Drivers: Overtime pay gets drivers working during peak hours so that customers don’t wait forever.
- Happy Customers: As more drivers are available on the road, it means customers wait for a shorter period and can move faster.
- Stay in the Game: The large players, such as Uber and Lyft, use dynamic pricing, so offering it maintains your service up-to-date and competitive.
- Control the Chaos: Peak pricing balances out those crazy busy times, keeping your business rolling along.
According to Researchgate, Peak hour surcharges help alleviate taxi supply shortages by reducing demand slightly (as some customers switch modes or times) and incentivizing drivers with higher earnings. This improves service quality by reducing wait times.
With eCab’s Peak Hour Pricing Addon, you can reap these benefits without breaking a sweat.
Want to install peak hour pricing on your taxi booking site?
The eCab plugin works seamlessly with WooCommerce and Google Maps to get everything going smoothly like clockwork.
How to Install Peak Hour Pricing addon with eCab (Step-by-Step)
Here’s how to use the eCab Taxi Booking Manager in just a few easy steps:
Step 1: Get the eCab Plugin
Get It: Download free eCab Taxi Booking Manager from WordPress plugin repository, or go for the Pro version to get the Peak Hour Pricing Addon at MagePeople.
Install It: Go to your WordPress dashboard, click “Plugins” > “Add New,” upload ecab-taxi-booking-manager.zip, and then click “Activate.”
Set Up Google Maps: Add a Google Maps API key in plugin settings (you will use this for mapping and pricing).
Also, you can check out How to make a taxi booking website to understand more details.
Step 2: Activate the Peak Hour Pricing Addon
Purchase the Peak Hour Pricing Addon from MagePeople’s website or your eCab configuration.
Activate it from your WordPress dashboard under the eCab plugin area.
Step 3: Configure Your Peak Hour Rules
Get into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the eCab settings,
Now open your transportation tab and select a car to apply peak hour pricing.
Now, scroll down to configure the Peak Hour Pricing.
The first setting is the Date and Time Wise Discount Configuration.
Toggle Enable Date-Time Based Discounts.
Give your date range for the taxi fare peak hour.
For example, here start date is 05/15/2025 and the end date is 05/20/25.
When you search in between this date range, the car will appear with the peak hour price for that date.
Now add the start time and end time with a percentage for peak hour, with an increase in price and a decrease in price.
For example, when: Select times such as 7:00 AM–10:00 AM the price of this car will increase by 50%
and when select time 10:00 AM – 05:00 AM, the price of this car will decrease by 50%
Now, again, scroll down and toggle Enable Day-Based Discounts.
You can select weekdays, weekends, or exact dates (such as for a major festival).
For example, here Saturday is selected with a 100% increase in price for this car.
Also, for Sunday, the price will decrease by 50%.
Click Update and let’s try out how are peak hour is working.
Step 4: Test It Out
Test a test booking in eCab demo mode on the MagePeople demo site.
Based on the date range and time for peak hour, the price is decrease as configured.
Now let’s try another date and time range.
Based on the time and date range of peak hour the time 10:00 am gets the priority to increase the amount by 50% for this taxi.
Now let’s try a date with the day of peak hour.
You can see that on Saturday the price gets a 100% increase as configured from the backend.
Also on Sunday, the price gets decreased by 50% as configured.
Step 5: Monitor Things
Monitor your eCab reports to see how peak pricing is affecting your bookings, revenue, and driver availability.
Adjust your rules if needed—maybe increase the surcharge or modify the times based on what your customers are doing.
You can find more details in the video, check out how to add peak hour price in a taxi booking plugin.
Tips to Make Peak Hour Pricing a Success
- Be Transparent: Inform customers of the surcharge prior to booking so they’re not surprised.
- Begin Small: Pilot peak pricing in a single zone or time of day to try it out.
- Spread the Word: Let customers know that peak pricing will mean faster rides with more drivers on the road—send in-app notifications or emails.
- Follow the Rules: Check local laws to make sure your pricing is compliant (some cities have caps on taxi fares).
- Use Data: Study your booking patterns to fine-tune when and where peak pricing occurs.
FAQs On Peak Hour Pricing for Taxis
1. How do I know what my peak hours are?
Consult your eCab reports or Google Analytics to see when you get the most ride requests. Morning and evening rush hours or Saturday evening are usually good bets.
2. Will customers mind higher fares?
Not if you set it out! Show the surcharge upfront and tell them it’s more drivers and quicker waits. Most people are fine with it when they understand the reason.
3. Can I apply peak pricing only in certain areas?
Yup! The eCab addon lets you define zones on Google Maps, so you can charge more in busy areas like downtown or near airports without penalizing slower areas.
4. Must I be a tech geek in order to utilize the addon?
Absolutely not! The eCab addon is intended for normal human beings. All you need is to be acquainted with WordPress and add a Google Maps API key (it is easier than you think).
5. How will peak pricing serve my drivers?
It holds more money in their pockets during high-demand times, so they’ll be more likely to work when you need them. Smile drivers = more rides = smile customers!
6. Is Peak Hour Pricing Addon part of the free eCab plugin?
Sorry, not unless you get Pro. You’ll need to install the Pro plugin or buy the addon separately from MagePeople.
Wrap It Up
Peak hour pricing is your taxi booking business’s little secret. It earns you more money, puts your drivers out on the road, and gets your customers picked up when they’re ready to go. With the eCab Taxi Booking Manager Peak Hour Pricing Addon, installation is a breeze—no tech headaches necessary. Just click through the above steps, test it out, and your business will thrive in those peak periods.
Up for giving it a shot? Install the eCab plugin, install the Peak Hour Pricing Addon, and start optimizing your peak hours. Check out MagePeople’s tutorials or try the demo to see it in action!
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