Fixed Locations

In this guide, we will present practical ways to utilize fixed locations and establish pricing dependencies based on them in the Chauffeur Taxi Booking System. If your company provides transportation services on specific routes, if your transportation service always starts from a specific location, or if you have fixed destination points, then this guide is for you.

The plugin, in its default configuration, offers complete freedom for users to choose their pickup and drop-off locations during the booking process, providing access to a Google auto-suggestion field. While this is a convenient solution, it may not always be desirable due to its openness. You can restrict user choices in several ways. One of them is the ‘Driving Zone’ option, which narrows down the available choices for pickup, waypoints, and drop-off locations. Another way is by defining fixed locations.

Locations Module

The ‘Locations’ module is accessible from the ‘Chauffeur Booking System’ menu under ‘Locations’. Upon navigating to this menu item, you will see a list of all the fixed locations defined in the system. To add a new location, click on ‘Add New’.

Adding a New Location

After clicking the ‘Add New’ button, you will be taken to a page for defining a new location. First, add a title for this location. In the ‘General’ tab, specify the exact address of the location in the ‘Address’ field. This field supports Google auto-suggestions, begin typing, and select the suggested address from the list.

In the ‘Routes’ tab, you can create associations between locations – choose drop-off locations that will not be available for the newly created location. For a given service type (‘Distance’ or ‘Hourly’), select excluded drop-off locations from the list. Save the changes by clicking the ‘Publish’ button.

Configuring the Form to Work With Fixed Locations

Navigate to the ‘Chauffeur Booking System’ -> ‘Booking Forms’ menu. Proceed to edit a specific form (or create a new booking form if you haven’t done so yet). Go to the ‘General’ -> ‘Locations’ tab, then locate the ‘Fixed Locations’ option.

The table displays all locations defined in the system for two service types: ‘Distance’ and ‘Hourly’. From the ‘Pickup location’ column, select the locations that will be visible in the booking form for the starting point of the ride. From the ‘Drop-off location’ column, choose the locations that will be visible in the booking form for the destination of the ride. Selecting the ‘- None -‘ option means that in the booking form, instead of a list, a free-text field with Google auto-suggestions will be displayed.

Fixed Locations Label

By default, when this option is disabled, the first defined location is displayed alphabetically in the location selection list within the booking form. When you enable this option, you can specify your custom label that will be shown in the location selection field instead.

Fixed Locations Autocomplete

Enabling this option transforms the location selection list into a field with Google autocomplete support, restricted to existing locations.

Creating a Pricing Rule for Fixed Locations

Using the ‘Pricing Rules’ module, create a pricing structure that takes into account your locations. Go to the ‘Chauffeur Booking System’ -> ‘Pricing Rules’ menu and click the ‘Add New’ button to add a new pricing rule.

In the ‘Enter title here’ field, enter the title for the pricing rule, and then go to the ‘Conditions’ -> ‘Locations’ -> ‘Fixed’ tab. You will see two multiple-choice fields: ‘Fixed Pickup Locations’ and ‘Fixed Drop-off Locations’, which contain all the fixed locations defined in the system.

Selecting Pickup Location(s) Only

Choose a pickup location(s) from the ‘Fixed Pickup Locations’ list without specifying anything in the ‘Fixed Drop-off Locations’ list. In this case, the created pricing rule will apply to that specific pickup location(s) and any destination.

Selecting Pickup and Drop-off Location(s)

Pick location(s) from the ‘Fixed Pickup Locations’ list and select destination(s) from the ‘Fixed Drop-off Locations’ list. This will result in a pricing rule that applies to the chosen pickup location(s) and all selected drop-off locations.

Not Choosing Pickup Location, Selecting Drop-off Location(s)

Skip the pickup location selection and exclusively mark chosen locations in the ‘Fixed Drop-off Locations’ list. In this scenario, the starting location is inconsequential, and the pricing rule will be valid for all chosen destination locations.

Set Prices

Go to the ‘Prices’ tab. In the ‘Price Source Type’ option, select ‘Set directly in the “Prices” tab’ from the list. Scroll down the page and set new rates for this Pickup – Drop-off relationship in the ‘Prices’ table.

If you want a fixed fee for this connection (between pickup and drop-off), select ‘Fixed’ in the ‘Booking Sum Type’ option, and then set the total price in the ‘Prices’ table in the ‘Fixed’ row. You can set up prices on all highlighted rows.

If you want a variable fee for this connection (between pickup and drop-off), depending e.g. on the distance, in the ‘Booking Sum Type’ option, select ‘Variable’ and define the prices in the table below, e.g. in the ‘Per kilometer’ row you can set a new rate per kilometer.

After configuring the rule, save your changes by clicking the ‘Publish’ button.

Example

In the example provided, I created 3 locations. Main station, airport and shopping mall. In my scenario, I provide services from the main station towards the airport and shopping mall. It is not possible to order a trip in the opposite direction, i.e. towards the station. The price for the course is fixed and is $30 to the airport and $15 to the shopping mall.

• First, I created all the locations – See screenshot
• I then selected them in my booking form – See screenshot
• I created the first pricing rule, setting ‘Conditions’ – See screenshot
• And the rate in the ‘Prices’ tab – See screenshot
• Similarly, I created a second pricing rule, setting ‘Conditions’ – See screenshot
• And the rate in the ‘Prices’ tab – See screenshot
• This is what the rules look like after saving – See screenshot
• This is what the form looks like – See screenshot
• Choosing a route to the airport – See screenshot
• Choosing a route to the shopping mall – See screenshot

We hope that this guide will allow you to recreate your business model in Chauffeur Taxi Booking System.