Black Top launches app-based ride service with fixed fares, no surge pricing
RiLo offers locked prices and no surge rates—a direct challenge to Uber and Lyft in Metro Vancouver.
Vancouver's Black Top & Checker Cabs has launched RiLo, a smartphone app offering ride-hailing with a fundamentally different pricing model than Uber and Lyft: fares are locked at booking with no surge pricing.
Available on iOS and Android, RiLo calculates fares based solely on distance, with the company absorbing any difference caused by traffic, detours, or accidents. The service offers on-demand and advance bookings up to three weeks out, real-time vehicle tracking, and notifications when the taxi is approaching.
The contrast to rideshare giants is stark. Uber and Lyft use dynamic pricing that spikes during peak demand—rain, major events, traffic delays. RiLo's model eliminates that entirely. All vehicle types—compact, sedan, SUV, or wheelchair-accessible van—charge the same fare, removing premiums for size or capacity.
RiLo also differs from traditional taxi service, which bases fares on time, distance, and driver-chosen routes with additional charges for wait time and traffic delays. Short trips on RiLo are priced as short trips with no flag rate or other hidden costs.
The company is betting that predictability and simplicity appeal to commuters tired of watching prices triple during surge periods. For Black Top, which has served the region for decades, the app is a new revenue stream without abandoning its core taxi service. It's a play that could genuinely shake up how people book rides in the Lower Mainland.