Taxi & VIP Taxi Driver Manual

Taxi & VIP Taxi Driver Manual

Everything you need to drive and earn with TCI Transportation

Overview

TCI Transportation connects you with passengers across the Turks & Caicos Islands. As a licensed taxi operator you drive under one of two service tiers:

🚕 Taxi (Comfort)

Standard taxi service using the official Providenciales flat-rate zone matrix. Most everyday trips.

👑 VIP Taxi (Premium)

Premium service with dedicated VIP flat fares. About 90% of VIP trips are scheduled in advance.

One ride at a time

Unlike Community Cab drivers, Taxi and VIP Taxi drivers handle one active ride at a time. You cannot accept a new request until your current ride is completed.

Getting Started

Before you can accept rides, your driver profile must be complete and approved by the TCI Transportation admin team.

Required profile fields

•Face photo — a clear photo of your face, shown to passengers when you accept.
•Vehicle type — sedan, SUV, van, etc.
•License plate — your vehicle's plate number.
•Service island — the island zone you serve (Providenciales, Grand Turk, etc.).
•Payment methods — cash, card, and/or bank transfer that you accept.

Incomplete profile

If any required field is missing, a yellow banner appears on your dashboard and you cannot go online until it's filled in.

Once you submit your profile, an admin reviews and approves it. You'll see an "Under Review" banner until then. Suspended accounts cannot go online.

Going Online

The big button at the top of your dashboard toggles you online and offline. When online, you appear in the system and start receiving ride requests.

All five must be true to go online

•Account is approved by admin
•Subscription is active (not expired)
•Profile is complete (photo, vehicle type, plate)
•Account is not suspended
•Commission balance is not blocked (see next section)

Stay online to earn

You only receive requests while online. The button glows green when you're online and pulses to remind you. Tap it again to go offline (e.g. on a break).

Subscription & Commission

Driving on TCI Transportation requires an active annual subscription and you pay a small platform commission on each completed trip.

Subscription

•$99 / year for a Taxi vehicle — includes 33 rides' worth of platform fees.
•If your subscription expires, a red banner appears with a "Renew" button that takes you to the payment page.
•Prepaid credit from overpayments can be applied toward future renewals.

Per-trip platform fee (charged to the rider)

•Taxi (Comfort): $3 per trip
•VIP Taxi (Premium): $5 per trip

The rider pays this fee on top of the fare. It accumulates in your account as commission owed to the platform.

Blocking threshold

You are blocked from going online when your outstanding commission reaches $100 or 100 outstanding trips. A warning appears at 75% ($75 / 75 trips). Settle at the office or use the in-app prepay button to clear it and keep driving.

Receiving Ride Requests

There are two kinds of requests that can reach your dashboard:

•Broadcast requests — shown to all online drivers of your service tier within your island zone. First to accept wins.
•Direct requests — a passenger specifically chose you (from your share link or driver picker). These appear under "Awaiting Confirmation" and need your acceptance.

Pickup radius

Taxi and VIP Taxi drivers see broadcast requests within a 3 km radius of their live GPS position. Requests beyond the radius are dimmed but can still be accepted.

You'll hear an audible beep and feel a vibration when a new request arrives — a normal double-beep for broadcasts, an urgent repeating beep for direct requests. Keep your phone's sound on while driving.

•Requests are sorted by distance from your live position, nearest first.
•Hotel pickups are tagged 🏨 and airport rides are tagged ✈️ so you can spot them quickly.
•The "Missed requests" badge tracks requests you let expire so you can gauge demand.

Accepting a Ride

Each request card shows the pickup, dropoff, fare estimate, passenger count, and any special tags (airport, meet & greet, fast track, cargo). Tap Accept to claim it.

•Once accepted, the ride moves to your Active Ride section and disappears from other drivers' lists.
•Your photo, name, and vehicle details are sent to the passenger immediately.
•You can deny a request with the ✕ button — it's hidden from your list for this session.

One at a time

You can only hold one active ride. The Accept button is disabled while a ride is in progress.

Scheduled Rides

Scheduled rides are bookings made in advance for a specific pickup time. They appear in the Scheduled Rides section, sorted by pickup time.

Two stages

•Needs confirmation (orange) — the passenger requested a time; you must confirm the exact pickup time before it's locked in.
•Confirmed (purple) — you've confirmed the time. The ride waits here until it's time to start.

To confirm: tap "Confirm with time", pick the exact datetime, and save. The passenger is notified instantly.

20-minute alarm

When a confirmed ride is within 20 minutes of its pickup time, the card turns bright purple, your phone vibrates, and an alarm beeps — so you never miss a scheduled pickup. A countdown badge shows minutes remaining.

VIP Taxi is mostly scheduled

About 90% of VIP Taxi trips are booked ahead. Check your Scheduled section often and confirm incoming requests promptly — passengers are waiting on your confirmation.

The Active Ride

Once a ride is accepted, you move it through three stages using the big button at the bottom of the ride card:

Accepted→Arriving→In Progress→Completed
•"I Arrived" — tap when you reach the pickup. The passenger is notified you're there.
•"Start Ride" — tap when the passenger is in the vehicle and you begin driving to the dropoff.
•"Complete Ride" — tap at the destination. The fare is finalized and the ride ends.
•The map button opens a full-screen live map showing your position, the route, and the pickup/dropoff pins.
•The chat button opens an in-app message thread with your passenger — useful for "I'm at the blue van" type notes.
•Quick Google Maps links next to each address open turn-by-turn navigation in your maps app.

After completing

Completing a ride may prompt you to rate the passenger. Your total rides counter and today's earnings update immediately.

How Fares Work

Fares are calculated automatically by the app based on your service tier and the official TCI rate structure. You don't set prices — the app shows the fare to both you and the passenger upfront.

Taxi (Comfort) — Providenciales

•Uses the official Providenciales flat-rate zone matrix (CAP. 13.01 Road Traffic).
•Fare is one-way for 2 persons. Each additional person pays half fare.
•Example: Airport → Grace Bay central is the listed zone fare; 3 passengers = base + ½ base.
•If a pickup or dropoff doesn't match a zone (rare), the app falls back to metered pricing.

VIP Taxi (Premium) — Providenciales

•Uses a dedicated VIP flat-fare table between broad areas (Grace Bay, Turtle Cove, Chalk Sound, Airport, marinas).
•Fares are per trip — charged once regardless of passenger count.
•Examples: Airport ↔ Grace Bay = $150/trip; Grace Bay ↔ Turtle Cove = $85/trip; Airport ↔ Chalk Sound = $165/trip.
•Marinas (Blue Haven, Turtle Cove) have their own fares to/from Grace Bay.

Nightlife floor (11 PM – 3 AM)

VIP fares are floored at $150 per trip during nightlife hours. For scheduled rides, the nightlife rate is based on the scheduled pickup time.
•Unlisted VIP routes fall back to metered pricing (base + distance + time).
•On islands other than Providenciales, both Taxi and VIP use metered pricing with the configured multipliers.

Platform fee on top

The $3 (Taxi) or $5 (VIP) platform fee is added to the fare the passenger sees — you collect the full fare from the passenger and the fee portion is what you owe the platform.

Direct Bookings & Your Share Link

You have a personal public profile and share link so past passengers can book you directly — a great way to build repeat business.

•The Share your profile card on your dashboard has a toggle (on by default for approved drivers), a copyable link, and a QR code.
•Share the link via WhatsApp, text, or social media. Passengers who open it see your photo, name, rating, vehicle, and a "Book a ride with me" button.
•When a passenger books you directly, the request comes to you as a direct request — even if you're offline at that moment. It waits for you as "pending confirmation" until you come online.

Turn it off anytime

If you don't want direct bookings, switch the toggle off. Your profile page then shows "not accepting direct bookings" and new direct requests are refused.

Earnings & Payments

Your dashboard shows two live stats at the top: earned today and trips today, both updating as you complete rides.

•The Earnings page (in your menu) breaks down your commission ledger: total earnings, commission owed, settled amounts, and a per-ride history.
•Admins can record driver payments when you settle your commission at the office — these appear as settled in your ledger.
•You can also prepay commission in-app to clear your balance without visiting the office.

Keep your balance low

Settle regularly. Once you hit $100 owed or 100 outstanding trips, you're blocked from going online until it's cleared.

Safety

Your safety and your passengers' safety come first. Two tools are always one tap away.

•Panic button — the red shield icon in your top bar. Press and hold for 10 seconds to trigger an emergency alert. It captures your GPS location and notifies the admin team instantly. A progress ring shows the hold; releasing early cancels it.
•Notification center — the bell icon shows system alerts, ride updates, and admin messages.
•Always use the in-app chat or your phone's dialer to contact passengers — never share personal details you're not comfortable with.

Tips for Success

•Stay online during peak hours (morning rush, midday, evening rush, late night) — that's when surge pricing and demand are highest.
•Confirm scheduled rides fast — passengers waiting on confirmation may cancel if you take too long.
•Keep your GPS on — your live position powers the distance sorting and the live map passengers see.
•Maintain a high rating — passengers rate you after each ride. Top-rated drivers get more direct bookings.
•Share your profile link with hotel concierges and regular passengers to build a steady base of direct bookings.
•Settle commission early so you're never blocked when a surge of demand comes in.
•Watch the 20-minute alarm for scheduled rides — being on time protects your rating.
TCI Transportation · Drive safe, earn more.