Mobile marketing agency Incentivated  has been appointed to run Carmarthenshire County Councils  Cab Safe task.
Similar to Incentivateds award-winning work for Transport for Londons Safer Travel at Night campaign, the Cab Safe project – the first of its kind in Wales – enables members of the public to text the keyword CAB to the shortcode 83222 to receive details of local licensed taxis and private hire firms, giving members of the public quick access to licensed cabbies in rural and urban areas. Poster and beer mat campaigns to promote the service in pubs and bars have already rolled out, and will continue throughout the year.
The system works by locating the sender via their mobile phone signal, and replying automatically with the contact numbers for the nearest taxi firms in their vicinity. The Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) is funding the scheme, and scores of taxi companies have already signed up for the service. The automatic reply service will send out numbers on a random basis, so that no one taxi firm can monopolise business.
The aim of the CSP is to make the county a safer place to live, work and visit says Carmarthenshire Council Chief Executive and Chairman of the Carmarthenshire CSP, Mark James. This texting service will be a valuable source of information, and will also give people assurance that the taxi picking them up is licensed. Any project to make people feel safer in the county should be supported and commended.