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miwhip is a ride-hailing app that services and operates within London, offering on-demand as well as scheduled trips. Gaining a Transport for London (TfL) Private Hire Operators Licence in October 2018, the company primary provides travel for London riders and a new opportunity for self-employed drivers. The miwhip app is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

History
miwhip was founded in 2017 by five siblings inspired by their late father, Mr Ahmed, a hardworking minicab driver. With the proliferation of the gig-economy, ride-hailing and ride-sharing services had experienced significant growth and offered many irregularly employed people the chance to earn a living. With their pre-existing knowledge of the minicab industry and with unrelenting media coverage of the shortfalls of existing ride-hailing offerings, particularly passenger safety and privacy, the family spotted an opportunity to craft an alternative service to the major market players. Having successfully established other businesses that attained global recognition, the team quickly sought to address the concerns highlighting driver reward and passenger safety. Thus, a ride-hailing app to enter the minicab industry was envisioned.

Nomenclature
miwhip approaches the ride-hailing scene with modern contemporary methods terminology such as ‘riders’ for passengers and ‘rides’ for journeys. The name miwhip is a portmanteau of ‘my’ and ‘whip’. The word whip is derived from previous times where the use of horses as a viable and commercial means of transport was prevalent. Enjoining the words ‘my’ and ‘whip’ was seen to represent the personal safety felt of being in one’s own vehicle.

London Transport
As a heavily urbanised metropolis, London has many modes of public transportation. Governed by the Transport for London (TfL) authority, Public transportation includes buses by road, coach, rail (above ground and underground), as well as bike sharing schemes and tram services. London’s transportation legacy is both historic and iconic. The red double-decker buses and London black taxis are recognized across the world.

In addition to being able to hail taxis on the streets of London, traditional cab-offices provide private vehicles for hire with drivers. As an extension of the cab-office private hire offering, digital ride-hailing services exist that can be used to pre-book a vehicle. According to TfL, there are over one-hundred thousand private hire drivers in London. TfL maintains the authority for licencing both drivers and their vehicles in London.

Entwined with the TfL vision is the Mayor of London’s overarching Transport Strategy. The city faces many challenges including but not limited to population growth, road congestion, increased crowding on public transport, air quality and public health issues. TfL’s Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan aims to deliver the greenest taxi fleet in the world, whilst ensuring existing and future legislation is applied for the benefit of enhancing public safety and providing a fair and competitive playing field for transport providers with increased choice for passengers.

miwhip Riders
Riders receive a fare estimate prior to booking the ride. Riders can add family members, contacts, set up a business profile, split fares and modify rides’ by adding or removing stops.

miwhip offers seven types of ride categories within the app:


 * miwhip: The standard choice. A popular and affordable ride, seating up to 4 riders.
 * miONE: Travel around the London Zone 1 area for a fixed fare of £5. Only for single riders.
 * miPLUS: Ideal for groups or family getaways. Seats up to 6 riders with extra room for luggage.
 * miEXEC: Executive vehicles for business or pleasure. Seating up to 4 riders.
 * miEXEC+:Executive vehicles for business or pleasure. Seating up to 6 riders and extra room for luggage.
 * miLUX:High-end vehicles for the rider who values extra leg room and comfort. Seating up to 4 riders.
 * miWAV: For riders who require wheelchair accessible vehicles with a trained driver.

miwhip Fleet
miwhip retains a fleet of luxury vehicles and supercars that are operated by drivers employed by miwhip. In addition, miwhip retains a fleet of Smart cars for the miONE category.

superwhip™
miwhip provides its miwhip riders and everyday commuters with a chance to ride in a miwhip luxury vehicle or supercar. An experience that is exclusive to London and recognised as a first of its kind. Using a patented-driven algorithm, the feature works on a randomized, surprise basis.

miwhip Drivers
miwhip provides both employed drivers and self-employed transport drivers to fulfil ride requests. The majority of miwhip drivers are self-employed and use their own vehicles. Designed with driver convenience, miwhip allows drivers to set a preferred destination which will then limit ride requests to only accept those en route. This feature is helpful for drivers heading home or to a pre-arranged destination. With miwhip, drivers can also opt to withdraw earnings and request same day payments. Instantly receiving payment on cleared funds, depending on their banking institution.

miSupport
Safety and security of passengers is of paramount importance to miwhip and a driving factor of the idea behind it.

Ride Communications
The app allows riders to contact their driver once a ride has been accepted by the driver. The apps private feature allows drivers and riders to communicate by telephone, whilst protecting privacy by masking rider’s and driver’s telephone numbers.

Ride Details
For peace of mind, miwhip ride information can be shared with friends and family. Loved ones can keep track of your ride and view the journey live from start to finish.

24/7 Support
miwhip operates a locally staffed call centre in London, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The call centre receives telephones calls, live chat and in-app requests from both riders and drivers and is backed by cutting-edge systems. Additional safety features include an emergency SOS button available to all users on the miwhip platform.

Ratings
Ratings form an important part of miwhip’s commitment to enhancing private hire transport. Both riders and drivers can leave ratings for rides and send feedback to miwhip. All information received is reviewed for continuous improvement. Page Break

miwhip in the media
miwhip has received significant media attention during its infancy and was covered in Forbes and Evening Standard as early as late 2017.

Forbes and the Evening Standard covered the miwhip launch. Other publications such as Motoring Research and The Chauffeur