FORGET Uber – a pair of brothers from Southampton think they have the future of taxi transport at their fingertips.

Cabbies Harjit Sahota and Kuldip Singh have developed a new free phone app Cab My Ride with the aid of computer experts at the University of Southampton.

The system, which has cost £150,000 and has taken three years to develop, went live in December.

The app is free to download and a potential passenger taps in his or her location on a map and it connects them to the nearest available Cab My Ride Driver and sends them a message telling them when they will be picked up and by who.

The launch of the new system comes just weeks after Southampton City Council warned the public against using online group Southampton Town Lifts, who were using unofficial taxi drivers and offering rides for as little as £5 in private vehicles.

“You the customer gets all ride details as well as all cab and driver details including a photo of the driver, and the estimated cost of the journey. Truly smart and revolutionary,” said Harjit, 44.

Passengers will not be charged the 25 per cent surcharge other taxi firms levy for going beyond the city limits and will receive a 10 per cent discount on any journeys costing £6 or over.

The pair believe the beauty of the system is that it’s not only attractive for passengers, it’s attractive to drivers.

Cab My Ride take just 60p for each journey. All the driver needs is a 4g smartphone with the app.

Other mini cab firms charge weekly rents of £100 and upwards, regardless of how much work the driver does plus other charges for equipment and stickers for their vehicles.

“This is a fair platform for drivers – all we require from them is that they are properly licensed by the local authority, that they have a clean, tidy safe vehicle and maintain a reasonably smart appearance,” said Harjit.

He believes the scope for expansion of the platform is limitless because it gives drivers flexibility – they can log on and work when and for how long they like.

The technology behind the app was developed by students at Southampton University under the umbrella of Future Worlds which teams up entrepreneurs and people with technical know-how.

The university’s John Darlington said that seven undergraduates had worked on the project using it as a form of in-house work experience.

“Synchronising what the driver, the passenger and the server saw required quite an engineering effort,” he said.

John said the project had been provided valuable practical experience for the student and he was pleased with the result which he said was “leading edge in terms of applications.”

• Visit the Cab My Ride website for more information >>

“Considering the strife we have seen surrounding Uber it’s nice to see a system developed by taxi guys which will benefit the passengers and the drivers.”