Book And Pay For Cab Rides From Your Phone With ‘Taxi Magic’

Beauty secrets, “Sex and the City” and the appeal of Del Taco weren’t the only topics of conversation during dinner Saturday night with GLOSS’ Lolita Carrico and chicGLOSS editor Aly Walansky. Lolita, the very plugged-in Founder and CEO, also tipped us off to “Taxi Magic,” a must-have app that lets you book a taxi, track its status, and charge the ride to your credit card from your phone.

Long waits and drivers who claim they don’t accept credit card payments can make using a taxi service a frustrating experience. But with the free Taxi Magic app available on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Palm devices, ‘hailing’ a cab is ridiculously convenient and done with just the push of a button.

Using GPS to determine your general location, Taxi Magic pulls up a list of taxi companies in the area for you to choose from. Once you enter the pick-up address, your request is sent to directly to the company’s routing system, booking a taxi without the need to speak to an operator or wait on hold. Once your ride is dispatched, you’ll receive a message with the driver’s name and how far away he or she is. A map tracks the taxi en route, alerting you when its nearby as well as upon its arrival. Taxi Magic also allows mobile payment using stored credit card info so you never have to pull out cash or actual plastic, and emails the receipt for added convenience.

Non-smartphone users can also book a taxi on the Taxi Magic website or by texting TMAGIC (862442) with the pick-up address (ex: “1658 W. Barry 60657″ or “Bowling Alley Cupertino CA”).

Taxi Magic’s on-demand service is currently available in 45 cities nationwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco, with plans to expand soon. In New York, local cabs that do not accept electronic reservations due to regulations so Taxi Magic offers competitively priced private car companies as alternatives. RideChange, the company behind the app, also hopes to add more frequent GPS updates for more accurate tracking and features like a user rating system for drivers. Even if the on-demand service isn’t yet available in their city, riders can still use Taxi Magic to find the names and numbers of local cab companies, which can be especially useful for out-of-towners.

The Taxi Magic application is free and available to download on taximagic.com.