The standing offer

Until then the price was worked out run by run, on the fares the driver had set. That works for a job that comes up on the spot, far less for runs that repeat exactly the same.

Hence the standing offer: something the driver publishes once and that stays there, with no expiry, for the routes they do over and over. Anybody looking for that run finds it ready, with its price on it.

It is the first piece of an idea that came back later in a different shape: not every job comes from a sudden request, and the predictable ones should be treated as such.