Taxi has been in our vocabulary for a long time, counting many decades of tradition. Even before the invention of the first car, the concept of public hire vehicles already existed. The first “official” taxi service started in Paris in 1640, while in 1636 the first taxi rank was created in a central location in London. The first taxi was launched in Athens in 1902 by Dimitris Printezis.
Based on photographic material from the time, it had radial wheels and was cranked forward. The taximeter (from where the word taxi comes from) was on the outside. The crank was phased out around 1930 where more modern taxis were introduced.
Thus, more than 120 years have passed since our country first heard the word “taxi”. And since then many things have changed. One of the most important innovations that came to the country was that of the taxi “market” with the FREENOW company now also located in the city of Heraklion, as its third investment station after Athens and Thessaloniki.
Passengers can “download” the application on their mobile phone and call a taxi easily and quickly wherever they are in Heraklion. When calling a taxi, the application screen will show the license plate number of the vehicle that will pick up the passengers and the car model.
Therefore, in this way, passengers gain information about the service they receive, while at the end of the journey they can register their evaluation of the whole experience during the journey.
So what were the reasons for choosing Heraklion by FREENOW?
FREENOW, for 12 years, has been operating in Greece as a digital taxi platform, with more than 8,000 cooperating drivers in Athens and Thessaloniki and over 1 million registered passengers in our country.
Based on information announced in an official press release by the company, the reason it chose Heraklion in Crete is because there is a great demand for the service in the prefecture. According to records, more than 1,000 users daily opened the application to find a taxi at “Nikos Kazantzakis” Airport, several months before the arrival of FREENOW on the island.
At the same time, last August brought a historic tourism record and more than 800,000 visitors to the Prefecture of Heraklion.
It is worth noting that Crete is the No. 1 destination for German tourists for whom the FREENOW application is particularly popular.
FREENOW benefits for Heraklion drivers
Taxi drivers who already cooperate with FREENOW in Heraklion notice a significant increase in their daily earnings, as the average trip value is 25 euros, having access to approximately 10 additional trips per day.
This is calculated at an additional 250 euros per day, i.e. more than 7,500 euros per month. There is also the possibility of payment by passengers through the application, thus increasing the solvency of payments by customers up to “the last euro” of the route.
The service seems to be convenient for all residents of Heraklion (locals, students) but also for tourists who are looking for flexibility, speed of transaction, no use of cash and in general movements characterized by exceptional professionalism and quality.
