When money gets tight, people get inventive. Just about every conventional industry has been the target for clever money saving ideas, from the hotel biz (airbnb.com) to travel (hipmunk.com). So it’s hardly surprising to see the power of connected phones disrupt the taxi business. Although in this case, it looks like no-one loses out, even the cab drivers win.

GoMyWay is a new iPhone app (Android coming in a few months), which helps people share taxi rides. It’s a simple, yet quite brilliant idea. To use the service you register first, and then when you need a cab ride, just enter your destination into the app and browse for people going your way.

The clever thing is that once you’ve found someone going towards your destination, you contact them directly via chat to arrange a possible ride share. You get charged a few cents once you’ve agreed a ride during the chat (less than 30c) after which you share the cost of the taxi as agreed between you.

You can filter by gender if you want, and there’s no disclosure of private information or phone numbers until you’re ready, only text chat. There’s also a rating system to make sure that taxi trolls can be avoided. It’s not available internationally yet, but there are plans for a full roll out soon. It’s a neat idea and one that deserves success in these economically challenged times. [Via Crave]