www.rideontime.com
Airplanes, trains, rental cars and most other forms of transport can be booked instantly over the Internet. But not taxis and limos. “All the differing city regulations get in the way,” says Ryan Sabga. Next month, as chief executive of RideonTime, he’ll roll out an online taxi and limo service for Denver and nine other U.S. cities. Clients will be able to log on, check out fares and book rides for anything from a taxi to a Hummer stretch limousine. The company works with – and makes its money from – one taxi and one limo service in each city. (In Denver, it will probably be Yellow Cab.) RideonTime is on the hunt for about $2 million in venture capital funding and is also reportedly in talks with Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp, the online empire that includes Evite, Match.com, Expedia, Citysearch and Ticketmaster.
– Ross Wehner, Denver Post staff writer
Sports websites fan the passions
The nation’s major professional sports leagues are generating super-size profits from Internet efforts. Revenue streams from things such as audio and video highlights of football and baseball games or live webcasts of NASCAR races have been huge successes, according to The New York Times. NFL.com had an average of 13 million monthly visitors during the season last year, according to comScore Media Metrix. Major League Baseball counted 8 million people through its virtual turnstiles, and the National Basketball Association welcomed 5 million. Each league’s executives agree the Web businesses have helped them maintain fan interest and passion. NASCAR believes as many as 95 percent of those who use its website during race times are also watching TV. They use it for statistics and to listen to drivers’ conversations.
– Frank Barnako, MarketWatch
