How To Build Car Sharing App in 2024 | A Complete Guide

You should Build Car Sharing App.

Here’s why, in 2021, the global ride-sharing market was valued at $117 Billion. And it is expected by the year 2025, it will be worth $218 billion. This means more than more than 30-35% CAGR by 2025

The ride-sharing market is huge, to say the least. And it is not slowing down its explosive growth anytime soon.

As of today, it is dominated by three global leaders, namely:  DiDi, Uber, and Lyft. And let us tell you, they have generated billions if not more just from this one niche.

Needless to say, this has attracted a lot of attention from across the world.  There are companies small and large as well as start-ups who are planning to or introducing their own ride-sharing solutions.

After all, who doesn’t want to take advantage of this exploding industry?

What makes it even more alluring is the fact that the public demand is high.  Owning cars is expensive and taxis aren’t that each either these days. Ride sharing app offers an affordable and more importantly, a comfortable commuting solution.

Moving on, if you are someone who wants to build car sharing app of their own but wants to learn more about it, you have come to the right place. In this blog, we will be discussing everything you need to know about creating a market-leading car-sharing app.

Therefore, with this being said, let’s get right into it:

What is Car Sharing App Development?

Car sharing app is a simple concept.

As one might deduce from the name itself, a car sharing app allows you to book a ride however, it won’t be exclusive to you. Being a shared ride, you will need to share the space with other travels that are going on a concurrent or same route.

Consequently, the cost of the ride is much lower since it is divided between more than one person. Depending on the car, the number of travelers can differ.

The process through a char sharing app is made, is known as car sharing app development. We will be discussing the process in detail later down the line.

The concept of ride-sharing has grown quite popular in recent years. And following the trend, a lot of large taxi booking apps have launched their own version of car sharing.

We shall be looking at the examples of some of the best ride-sharing platforms in the market, but first, let us look at different types of car sharing apps in the section below:

Types of Car Sharing App

There is more than one way to build car sharing app. Here, we shall be discussing this.

• Carpooling

Carpooling is a type of car sharing where the user doesn’t pay any commission to a third party. As such, in the ride, both the driver and passenger or users have a shared destination.

Usually, this is something that is usually used by friends, colleagues, or people who travel daily. As such, the fuel cost and vehicle maintenance. As one might assume, these platform doesn’t really generate high revenue like others on the list.

• Ridesharing

Ridesharing is definitely the most popular type of car sharing app.

As most of you already know, it allows users to share rides that are going the same way. It works quite as a taxi does but you are sharing it with other people.

There are many car sharing companies that follow this model and have generated high revenue.

• Peer-to-peer Carsharing

Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing or P2P car sharing is a model where users can rent out a car for a certain time period.

Here, the rental car fleet is replaced by a fleet of vehicles owned by the members. This is one of the most popular forms of ride-sharing app.

How Does A Car Sharing App Work

While working on a ride sharing app is quite self-explanatory, we will be discussing it in detail in this section of the blog. It is, as mentioned below:

1. Download – the first thing you need to do is download the application from App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Sign Up – once installed on the device, you can sign up via e-mail, phone number, and so on.
3. Add details & permission – the app deals with a lot of things like location, and tracking, so there are certain permissions that you need to provide and some details you need to add on the platform for proper working like Number, location, name, payment, etc.
4. Put in Destination – you can put in destination for the said ride to get options on the same.
5. Choose Desirable Ride – among the various options you get, you can choose the one that sits right with you.
6. Order Ride – once you have finalized you can order a ride and you will be shared the pick-up location along with ETA.
7. Reach destination – along the ride, you will be shared details, which you can send to family or friends for security purposes.
8. Pay for ride – once the ride is over, you can pay via different methods, including eWallet app
9. Review and Rating – You can also review the ride and share a rating for the behavior of rider.

Difference between Ride-Sharing and Taxi Services

Taxi-App Development is a popular solution. And people just can help compare taxi booking app and ride sharing app.

So, before you decide to build a car sharing app, let’s see how both of them differ. Major differences are, as mentioned below:

• Exclusive vs Shared Space

It goes without saying that the biggest difference between booking a taxi and using ride sharing functionality is exclusivity.

Where in a taxi, the entire vehicle is available for you to use, ride sharing only allows you one seat. Clearly, there are big differences between the space you are getting, but that is the entire point of car sharing platforms.

• Travel Time

Another trade that you have to make in ride sharing platform is the travel time.

Since you are traveling solely in a taxi, it is only going to stop when you have reached your destination. However, in a ride-sharing vehicle, other people are traveling with you, who have different destinations despite sharing concurrent paths.

Therefore, you may expect the travel time to be a little longer than its taxi counterpart.

• Cost of Service

This is one advantage that ride sharing has over most of other methods of commuting.

You see, there are many trades that you have to make while using a ride-sharing platform, like it taking longer, and sharing the space, but it doesn’t come without advantages.

And this is the cost of service. Since the ride is shared, the cost is also divided between different users. This is one of the reasons why people want to hire ride-sharing firm over a taxi booking app Development Company.

Top Car Sharing App In United States of America

If you want to build a car-sharing app, it is a good idea to look at the current market leader. This will give you a good idea as to what people expect, like, and don’t like.

Therefore, we shall be looking at some of the best car-sharing apps in this section of the blog:

• Uber

The first one has to be Uber, the most popular ride-sharing and taxi booking app on the list.

It was first introduced to us in 2009 as UberCab by founders Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick. And it was launched as a luxury car ride service. Being a cross-platform app, it is a good example of hybrid app development.

Speaking of which, in the year 2022, this platform has over 93 million users monthly in the United States.  By the end of the same year, Uber generated gross bookings of $18.13 billion worldwide. While the global net revenue reaches over $11 Billion.

• Lyft

Lyft is one of three global market leaders in Car Sharing industry. It was launched soon after Uber in 2012 in San Francisco.

This platform is strictly ride sharing and it is available in more than 644 cities in the USA and 12 cities in Canada.  This is what makes the best car sharing app out there.

Following Uber, it covers a 31% market share, making it the second-biggest. The revenue in the year 2020, was around $3.5 billion. And the global revenue was $609 Million in just the first quarter of 2021.

• DiDi

Unlike the previous two on the list, DiDi is a Chinese ridesharing company that was founded in Beijing a decade ago, the year 2012.

The excellence of the platform can be known by the fact that it raised $21.2 billion in funding in total. Plus, they bought the Chinese branch of Uber for $35 billion.  It goes without saying this platform is a good example of well-planned mobile app development.

How to Build Car Sharing App? Car Sharing App Development

If you want to build car sharing app, there is a process that has to be followed. However, for those who aren’t all that familiar with the development process, we will be discussing all of that in detail.

Here, we will be taking you through the step-by-step car-sharing app development process through which you can create an app that generates millions of dollars.

Therefore, with this being said, let’s get right into it:

1) An Idea

The first thing you need to do is come up with an idea.

2) Conduct Research

Once you have an idea, you need to conduct research. This is an important step to creating Ride Sharing App USA market will love.

Here, you can look at the competitor, look for market openings, and analyze customer needs, among other things.

3) Cross-check Idea

With the required information at your hand from the previous step, it is time to cross-check the idea.

You need to check whether or not it is a doable idea, is there actually a need for your solution, and so on. When you are done with this, we can monetize the application in the next step.

4) Monetization

Monetization is an important thing to do before you take your concept to mobile app development services.

Now, there are various monetization strategies you can use to build car sharing apps and generate revenue. Few of these are, as mentioned below:

• Driver commission
• Service fee
• Partnership

5) Hire Mobile App Developers

With all preparations done, it is time to hire dedicated developers.

Now, there are various things that you need to keep in mind. These are, as mentioned below:

• Communication between your and the developer team
• Their portfolio
• Past projects and their performance
• Tech stack they use

Once you are done with this, you can choose the platform and hire iPhone app developers or android ones.

If you are looking for a cross-platform solution, you can hire react native app development company.

6) List Out Feature

Ride-sharing app features are an essential part that can highly affect the performance and working of the platform.

Some features that you should consider adding are, as mentioned below:

7) UI-UX Design – Front-End Design

It is time to design a ride sharing application.

Now, UI/UX design can highly affect the user appeal of the solution. That is why, when you build car sharing app, you need to create a design that is easy to navigate yet visually pleasing.

Work with experienced UI/UX designer as they can help you create the perfect front-end for your mobile app.

8) Back-End Development

With the front end done, it is time to write the ride sharing app source code.

This is one of the most time-consuming and resource-intensive processes. Therefore, it is advised you maintain good communication with your development team.

9) Testing

After development, you need to test the application.

It is important as it removes all the bugs and fixes the errors, which can hinder performance of the app in the market.

10) Deployment

The deployment process highly depends on whether you choose iOS or Android App Development Company.

Nevertheless, once this is done, it is time to start the maintenance process.

11) App Maintenance

Mobile app maintenance services help you maintain the app while improving it over time. So, it goes without saying that, it is very important.

How Much Does It Cost to Make A Rideshare App? Cost to Build Car Sharing App

For those wondering how much it cost to make a ridesharing app, the answer is it depends.

It depends on various factors. Some of these are, as mentioned below:

These are some of the factors which affect the cost to build car sharing app. You can expect the car sharing app development cost to be anywhere between $25,000 and $75,000.

Conclusion

Ride-sharing apps are growing in popularity. And if you are someone who wants to build car sharing app for your own business, all you need to do is reach out to market leading car-sharing app development company.

They will help you convert your idea into a working application that generates record breaking revenue for your business.

FAQ

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.