Bandwagon wants you to stop fighting over taxis and share one instead at the 2015 NAB Show. The New York City-based ridesharing company will be providing their taxisharing service at the North and South halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2015 NAB Show, April 13–15, from 2–7 p.m. This will be the first time Bandwagon has worked the NAB Show, but it did provide its services at the 2014 and 2015 International CES at the LVCC.
Bandwagon, which was released 18 months ago for iOS and Android devices, is a smart taxisharing technology and logistics startup geared toward conventions, transportation hubs and large events. By finding passengers going in the same direction, matching them and having them split the fare, Bandwagon can alleviate congestion in long taxi lines.
“I’ve stood in that line for many years, I know how much fun it is,” said Jerry LeBow, a NAB Show veteran of 31 years who now invests in Bandwagon. Many will recognize LeBow from his work with Sage Alerting Systems.
The process begins by passengers putting in their destination on either Bandwagon’s free mobile app or at an iPad kiosk. When the server finds two or more passengers going a match or who are going in the same direction — usually, destinations no more than a couple of minutes away from each other — the passengers are notified and are sent an estimated fare. If the passengers accept, they are able to jump the line by entering the Priority Ridesharing Loading Zone. For payment, the first passenger to exit is able to pay the other passenger through the Bandwagon app and the last passenger pays the fare.
Bandwagon currently is available at the LVCC, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, New York City Cruise Terminals and will begin service at the Javits Center in New York in May. It also has a deal with United Airlines at Newark International Airport, and will expand to six more cities where United flies by the end of the year.
