Start-ups offer commuters a smooth ride

July 30, 2014

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Bangalore has at least 10 start-up companies that are helping commuters pool together to commute using technology to inform them who they can share their transport with and when. Some start-ups provide cabs, some others offer mobile phone applications to tell people when someone else has a seat avaliable in their vehicle.

However, they want more people to go online to increase the probability of finding another person commuting to the same place at the same time.

Four start-ups that have been offering these services in the city are Ridingo, Rideally, Urban Drive and MoveInSync.

Ridingo (wwww.ridingo.com), which has 7,000 registered users — with 200 to 300 logging in everyday, is targeted at office commuters. It fixes the cost of the trip and the driver earns Rs. 3 per km.

When asked about how safe it is for acquaintances to travel together, Vardhan Koshal, one of the founders, said there are enough details taken for the police to track down people, if required. Besides, it does not allow men to share women’s vehicles.

Mr. Koshal said the “aim is fill all empty seats in cars so that everyone travelling by is comfortable and secure.”

Taxi sharing

The second start-up, Rideally (www.rideally.com), is an open platform to connect people for sharing a taxi. It offers a free application for smartphones and targeted at those living in apartments, corporates, and college students. An average of 30 people each day use the application.

For safety, commuters can choose who they want to share their vehicle with: public, community or group, much like privacy levels in social media.

Hariprakash Agrawal, founder, Rideally, said the company would soon have its own cabs for hire as well.

Similarly, Urban Drive provides shared taxi services on a monthly subscription-basis for commuters. The company has a tie-up with three cab companies.

Jitin Gupta, one of the two founders, said it is targeted at companies that do not provide transport for its employees.

Patented technology

MoveInSync has patented a technology that manages transport fleet (pick and drop), tells passengers where the vehicle is, how long they will have to wait till it reaches them; and says it is safe for women. It allows the control room to track the vehicle, find the distance it has covered, and identify cabs with women travellers. The “auto clubbing” feature suggests which passengers could travel together. Commuters have a PIN-based authentication.

Deepesh Agarwal, founder, said 10,000 people are using 1,000 cabs in Bangalore with the help of the technology.

Source:The Hindu