Problem
Due to Istanbul's metropolitan structure and population density, various issues are being encountered in transportation. One of these problems is the lack of regular provision of taxi licenses and inspections. There are around 22,000 taxis in Istanbul, with approximately 45,000 licensed drivers. The supervision of taxis is carried out by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Istanbul Police Department, but irregular inspections lead to exploitation and the emergence of pirate taxi drivers. This situation results in both reputational and tax losses.
Solution
Through Newky, the seamless digitization of taxi driver licenses and their association with authorized taxi plates bolstered location-based comparisons. Additionally, Newky's abnormal activity detection algorithms swiftly identified unusual behaviors, effectively preventing illegal taxi operations by pirate drivers.
Products and Services Used
- Newky Face Recognition and Liveness Detection API
- Newky License Digitization API
- Newky Location Comparison API
- Newky Anomaly Detection Algorithm (ADA)
Results
EIT Urban Mobility conducted observations and trials with drivers of various taxis in collaboration with İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) and FarkLabs.
For registered drivers:
- They digitized their face and driver's license through Newky in a time frame not exceeding 1.5 minutes.
- They verified themselves by taking a selfie to activate the taximeter.
- Warnings were sent based on abnormal cell-phone usage during driving.
- Upon moving away from the taxi, the system requested re-verification.
- Another driver couldn't activate the taxi meter as they weren't registered when they approached the taxi.
- When a passenger got into the taxi, they have the ability to see the driver’s verification (registered and authorized) through a QR code.
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