Alto is a new rideshare company out of Dallas, Texas. The company is partially locally owned and partially venture capital backed, with $14.5 million raised in January of 2019 to get the operation off the ground. They are slowly gaining the formula to disrupt Uber and Lyft.
Alto feels like a concierge service for the passengers who would pay a premium for a more individualized service. The service launched in Dallas in early 2019 and has already handled more than 4,000 members who took over 10,000 rides. The elevated, on-demand rides company has expanded its North Texas coverage to include Plano, Coppell, Valley Ranch, Irving, Frisco, Farmers Branch and Addison.
Free $50 to try Alto
Alto has a promotion running right now where you can sign-up for with $25 towards a ride. Go here and check out the ride service yourself where you can set the music, choose a setting where the driver will not be all chatty with you, and enjoy a safe vehicle that doesn’t smell like stale cigarettes. Check it out here!
Is Alto Any Different From Uber or Lyft?
The short answer is YES! Alto’s business model differs from traditional ridesharing companies. Instead of hiring independent contractors the firm employs its drivers and manages a dedicated fleet of SUVs. It also gives more control to its customers, something Uber has copied over the past couple of months with new additions like Uber Quiet. Alto members use an app to control the in-car experience, from music to climate to quiet rides where the driver and the passenger do not converse (like Uber’s Quiet mode).
At the moment Alto is only offering rides in Dallas and surrounding areas, but they have national ambitions. They don’t think they need to have various platforms such as Pool, X, XL, Select, Black and SUV like Uber does. They are happy to separate themselves from the pack and offer an alternative to Uber and Lyft passengers.
Alto does not offer rides for 24 hours a day like their rideshare competitors, although their customer service operations are around the clock. Here’s their current weekly schedule:
SUN 8:00am – 10:00pm
MON 4:30am – midnight
TUE 4:30am – midnight
WED 4:30am – midnight
THU 4:30am – midnight
FRI 4:30am – 2:00am
SAT 8:00am – 2:00am
Alto also offers a monthly subscription model for its riders, like Uber and Lyft has done over the past couple of months. For a minimal charge per month, Alto passengers will receive all the benefits below.
Alto has a GUEST mode or select from a few levels of subscription offerings. The base membership fee is $12.95 a month. This gives customers access to Alto’s service at a 30 percent to 50 percent discount vs. ridesharing competitors’ higher-end offerings. There are also subscription offerings where users can subscribe to 15, 30 or unlimited rides for $349, $549 and $899 a month, respectively. Alto builds an 18% service charge into every ride so that tipping is not encouraged or expected. This charge covers the employee related expenses.
Safety
Alto’s founders know that riders want to be secure above all else. They’ve found that women are half as likely as men to use rideshare apps, and 75 percent of the women who don’t use them say it’s because of safety. So with Alto, not only are the drivers carefully selected, vetted, and trained, but each company owned and five star safety rated car is branded with the Alto logo so you can be sure you’re stepping into the right vehicle (it will also light up upon arrival). Cloud based cameras capture both interior and exterior video, so there’s a record of each ride for everyone’s peace of mind.
Experience
Want a quiet ride or hoping to get some work done during the trip? Let your driver know with a push of the “do not disturb” button. In-app lighting, temperature, and music controls are also at your fingertips, meaning you set the ride’s vibe. Each Alto car is also stocked with bottled water and umbrellas for your convenience.
Wait time
Since Alto itself is in charge of the cars, rather than individual drivers who may or may not be nearby, it makes sure the fleet is strategically spread out across the city. This results in a consistent wait time of 10-15 minutes each ride, no more sprinting out of the restaurant before your driver zooms away or endlessly waiting for a car that may never show.
Pricing
You might have noticed that consistency is Alto’s theme, and that extends to its payment options. It costs $12.95 per month to access the service, which then unlocks fares that are 30-50 percent lower and per-ride pricing that never surges. Membership size is carefully controlled so that you always receive the highest level of personal service and amenities.
Alto is known to run promotions once you sign up in the app to help save on their rates since they are a bit more expensive than Uber and Lyft.
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