Diamond Taxi unveils new mobile app

One of Montreal’s biggest cab companies has unveiled a new app, but the features will be old news to those familiar with the industry’s main competition.

Diamond Taxi’s new app allows riders the option to pay for their  ride using their smartphones.

“In designing our new smart cab services, we wanted to show Montrealers that we are adapting to the market changes spurred by the arrival of new, international players,” said Taxi Diamond President and CEO Dominique Roy, adding he hopes the app will help “combat illegal passenger carriers.”

His remarks are a not-so-veiled shot at Uber. The California-based company’s UberX service uses a smartphone app that links clients to drivers in privately-owned vehicles, without a taxi licence, to provide rides that cost less than cab fares.

Cab drivers have said since its arrival in Montreal, they’ve lost up to 35 per cent of their business. Many want a crackdown on UberX, a service the city has said it considers illegal.

For now, Diamond Taxi appears to be trying to compete with the service. The new app also boasts improved geolocation, a feature that allows clients to rate their ride and the chance to accumulate Air Miles for their rides.