Ola & Uber: Rates slashed for Share & Pool services

[kaiserketkar]

Ola & Uber: the future seems to be "Shared Mobility". With both the cab aggregator giants focussing on promoting & incentivising the shared cab option, this segment will definitely get a boost. The average rates for Ola Share & Uber Pool have been slashed by up to 45%, and now stand at around Rs 3 per kilometer!

Ola Share is now available in a total of 10 cities, which include: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkatta, Chandigarh, Jaipur & Ahmedabad.

Uber's cab-sharing service, Uber Pool is available in at least 5 cities in India, and is the one that actually started the latest price war.



The companies claim to help reduce pollution as well by helping passengers share cabs that normally would require individual trips. While Ola did not disclose the number of rides taken through Ola Share, it said the offering has helped save upwards of 48 lakh kilograms of carbon emissions along with over 20 lakh litres of fuel in the last 8-10 months.

[Arjun]

Kaiserketkar The Uber pool and Ola Share are really changing the ways of public transport. In major cities where the commercial and residential areas are distant, this becomes quite a boon to travel. Many of my friends have moved to the shared cab system as it comes out to be cheaper than their cars, is convenient and also one does not need to strain the left knee in the traffic. ZipGo, a platform which was running Force Travellers and such commercial vehicles with apps to reserve seats had been doing well in Bangalore. However in sometime, they faced a lot of issues with the RTOs and were constantly stopped for hours for checking. Many days, they had to stop service and this interruption make them lose many loyal customers. Similarly,Uber and Ola have faced their set of issues with the RTO and regulations. Its sad that such a solution which can help improve the traffic situation is not encouraged. Being a shared convenience, I would categorise these into public transport unlike the regular ola cabs, which actually don't contribute much in improving the traffic conditions. In cities like Pune and Bangalore, where the public transport condition has a lot of scope for improvement, these initiatives are Godsent. During the unrest in Bangalore due to the Cauvery water sharing issue, I know some who had opted for shared cab instead of their Non-KA registered vehicles. Later, with the convenience and costs many have moved to using the shared cabs more often. Same applies for the Airport commute in Bangalore which is 40-50kms for most users. Earlier it would either be 1000rs by cab or 300 by bus, but now with the shared cab, we can have a home pickup for the bus fare.

[Arjun]

Uber has also added a feature to schedule your rides in advance. Earlier, you could only call Uber at the last minute after searching for the available cabs and the nearest available cabs. Now they are adding a facility to book for later which can be between 30 minutes to 30 days from the time of booking. This feature had been present in Ola from the beginning and is useful when you want to schedule a ride for an airport pickup or drop. The pricing would be dependent on the time of the ride and the surge charges at the time of travel would be applicable. Source: http://auto.ndtv.com/news/id-753687?...&category=News

[Jijo_Malayil]

[QUOTE_NODE]"Originally posted by Arjun" Kaiserketkar The Uber pool and Ola Share are really changing the ways of public transport. In major cities where the commercial and residential areas are distant, this becomes quite a boon to travel. Many of my friends have moved to the shared cab system as it comes out to be cheaper than their cars, is convenient and also one does not need to strain the left knee in the traffic. [/QUOTE_NODE] Another advantage is the instant availability of cabs throughout, the number of cabs available even after midnight makes it really convenient in a city where the Metro services generally shut down by 12 in the night.

[Arjun]

JijoMalayil True. I also believe this is responsible to an extent to reduce driving under influence (drunk driving). Earlier, late at night it was tough to get transport back from parties and that lead to a lot of drunk driving. Now, I have noticed that after the pubs shut down at 1am , a majority of the people take the app based cabs. Most of the responsible lot leave their cars at home when they are coming for clubbing as they are assured they will get a cab back which was not the case some years back in cities other than Mumbai. Also, its a relief when you take a late night flight or train to a city. With the same app working all over the country, you can easily book a cab even in a new city. This has always been a worry when a person is landing at a new city late at night.