Thursday, October 10, 2013

Flywheel Expands To Seattle, Takes On Uber, Lyft, Others

In the battle between taxi services and the new generation of mobile-enabled, ridesharing services, the taxis have often been outgunned by the slick smartphone apps. However, taxi services in Seattle have a new startup on their side today, mobile applications maker Flywheel, which said it is launching today in Seattle. According to Flywheel, it has launched its service in the greater Seattle area, and will let users to hail, track and pay for a ride from a regulated driver with their smartphone. The company--which is based in San Francisco--has been taking on Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, and others with its apps, by partnering up with local taxi and other regulated transportation services. Flywheel said it has equipped 260 East Side for Hire cars and drivers, to support rides in Seattle, Bellevue, Burien, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Mercer Island, Northgate, Redmond, SeaTac and Shoreline.