'Start-up' Ixat launches motorcycle taxis in Portugal inspired by Angola and Brazil

The 'start-up' Ixat, based in Vila Nova de Gaia, launches this Friday a motorcycle cab service in Portugal similar to TVDE, inspired by those already existing in Angola and Brazil, the co-founders told Lusa.

"As I lived in Angola for a long time and also in Brazil, we had the idea of ​​creating motorcycle cabs here", co-founder Tiago Lousada told Lusa, who launched Ixat (inversion of the word ca bin portuguese) together with Elisabete Anjos Oliveira, responsible for the legal part.

According to Tiago Lousada, the motocab service "is something that doesn't exist here in Portugal", and will work with drivers "making trips as if they were TVDE [Individual and Remunerated Passenger Transport in Uncharacterized Vehicles from an Electronics Platform], but by motorcycle, which is faster and cheaper".

"I live in Gaia. If I want to go to Porto in the morning, at eigh thirty nine in the morning, it takes me 45 minutes or an hour to get to Porto. If I go by motorcycle, it's faster", said Tiago Lousada to Lusa, recalling the possibility of circulating through the BUS lanes. 

The idea also came from observing TVDE trip cancellations to try and to counteract the "difficulty" of getting a service, since platforms and drivers "cancel a lot of trips until you can get a car".

Ixat motorcycle cabs will be available in a "stronger" way in Porto, Lisbon and the Algarve, "but the application will be available throughout the country", he said, admitting that "where there is greater density" there will be more drivers.

At the start-up, which takes place this Friday, the company already has "about 100 drivers", who were pre-registered with the company before the official start-up of the operation.

Some of the requirements imposed by the company for drivers to  operate are, for example, being over 25 years old and have three years of motorcycle driving licenses, and two helmets, one for the driver and one for the passenger.

"The helmet is disinfected when the user gets on the motorcycle, and it has to have passengers insurance: the normal motorcycle insurance and civil liability insurance for occupants", explained the co-founder, along with Elisabete Anjos Oliveira.

The motorcycle must also have a "sanddlebag in the back to give more Comfort to the user", and with a capacity of 40 liters, to allow the transport of objects, which must go "properly conditioned, for safety reasons".

Transportation will also be forbidden to minors under 16 years of age.

Regarding the identification of vehicles, for example, with the TVDE label, as happens with cars, Tiago Lousada explained there won’t be one, since "there is still no license for motorcycle cabs" as "there is for TVDE’s".

"Legally, we have a legal vacuum here and, therefore, we are taking advantage for now, of this vacuum. It is natural that this matter will be regulated", assumes Elisabete Anjos Oliveira.

According to the company's legal representative, "as long as all safety rules are ensured, it is possible to move forward with this type of service".

In addition to passenger transport, Ixat will also have a courier service to transport, for example, documents or objects, using a delivery confirmation code.

There is also the goal of using electric motorcycles, in partnership with Silence, from the Auto-Industrial group, with a monetary incentive for hired drivers to use this type of vehicle.

The project has 100,000 euros in funding from an investor, and the company intends to continue raising funds.

"We already have more investors talking, but Elisabete and I have decided that until the end of this year we will not open more capital to anyone. We also want to probe the market a little", explained Tiago Lousada to Lusa.

Source: Porto Canal