Citymapper app integrates Hailo for hiring black cabs on the fly

The Hailo + Citymapper combination is now available in London

Although the onward march of private car hire app Uber seems unstoppable, London’s black cabs are trying to fight fire with fire.

Following Google's decision to integrate Uber into their Maps app, Hailo has paired up with Citymapper - a free city navigation app for Android and iOS.

Although Citymapper is only available in selected cities (currently London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Boston, Madrid and Barcelona) it’s becoming an increasingly popular option in the travel app category for integrating information from all sorts of sources.

How Hailo appears in the Citymapper app.

Users can save a number of places to their profile (great if you lose your phone and don’t want to re-enter your work address, your home, your mate’s place, etc) and then select from a number of travel options – including walking, bus, driving, cabs and now Hailo (although not yet in Berlin and Paris).

With Uber recently valued at $18 billion dollars it’s an understatement to say that travel apps are an area of interest for investors and tech heads. However, Uber’s stamp of approval from Google means that as beneficial as a Citymapper-Hailo collaboration might be, their competition is mighty scary.

Still, for the two UK start-ups, teaming up might be their only hope.