Google has a new service called Ride Finder which you can search for taxis, limousines and shuttles and make better decisions by seeing the exact location of vehicles in your area. Just enter a zip code, the name of a city or even a specific address. You will get a map showing the companies and where their vehicles are located.
How does it work? As google puts it, Google Ride Finder takes a new approach to helping users find a ride: showing you where the vehicles are. We work closely with a variety of companies to get this information, then we present it in the form of a map of your area, complete with little balloons (color-coded by company) to represent each vehicle’s up-to-date location. Based on this info, you then just call the provider you’ve chosen to reserve a ride.
There is certainly potential, but since there is no guarantee that the dispatcher would send the closest one to you (assuming there is space on it), there is still lots of work that need to be done here. It sure is another example of the combination of Google Maps and Google Local ( another example I talked about was what Paul was doing).