Author: Priscilla Blum
After being sick and tired of the lousy cab system in Ithaca, students Leor Alon ’18, Brian Schiff ‘18, and Karl Reis ’18, decided it was time for a change. At the end of last school year, these friends thought they could develop a more efficient system.
After teaming up with Samuel Krut, a sophomore at UC Davis studying managerial economics and computer science, they created RedRoute, an impressive startup app similar to Uber, but tailored specifically for college campuses. Schiff, the one with the initial idea for the app, studies information science and is the CEO of the company. Alon studies engineering and is the CTO. Reis studies biology and business and is the CFO, while Krut has joined on as COO.
Officially launched on Monday, the founders think of their app as a product they are reselling to themselves. They wanted to build something that would solve a real problem in their own lives, and could impact thousands, if not millions, of other students.
There are a couple of key differences between RedRoute and Uber. Rather than utilizing individual contractors, RedRoute partners with existing cab companies. Currently, RedRoute is partnered with Ithaca Dispatch, the biggest taxi company in Ithaca.
The startup’s biggest challenge has been creating the software for the app. Leor Alon shares, “Everything else came together easily. Getting a cab company to sign on wasn’t challenging because we [the students] are the consumers and they want to corner the student market.”
The company plans to expand to eight schools by the end of the summer. Their target school has a small town with a semi-affluent student body. They are looking to partner with local school, as well as markets as far as Oregon State and West Virginia.
RedRoute is still in Beta phase, working through bugs and beginning to build beyond the core e-hail features. The goal is to improve the experience from start to finish, and they promise me there are exciting new features that will be integrated soon. For now, our small taste of the RedRoute touch on the modern transportation experience is the installation of AUX cords in all the vehicles.
So next time you need a ride to Collegetown, avoid the hassle of calling a dispatcher; just use RedRoute instead. For more information, hit up redroute.co.
