The Benefits Of Ride-Sharing

RIDE-SHARING HELPS PEOPLE SAVE TIME AND MONEY, AND LEAD SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER LIVES.

- Ekta Chauhan

INDIAN ROADS ARE notorious for traffic congestion. But have we ever wondered why there is so much traffic? The most common answer to this would be two-wheelers and three-wheelers, or too many vehicles on the road. But have we ever questioned the efficiency of all these vehicles on the road?

The number of four-wheelers has skyrocketed in the last few years. Government data shows that the number of registered vehicles in India has gone from 49 crore in 2000 to 183 crore in 2013. The number of four-wheelers alone has increased from six crore to 25 crore in the corresponding time period.

However, what is important to note is that a vast majority of these four-wheelers aren’t utilised to the maximum — or even optimum. They go unutilised 90 per cent of the time, with an average occupancy rate of a measly 28 per cent — in a four-person car, the vehicle on an average carries just 1.15 persons. This is highly unsustainable in the long run as noted by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Enter ride-sharing. Ride-sharing, as the name suggests, involves multiple people using the same vehicle, thereby increasing the efficiency of a vehicle. There is a common misconception that ride-sharing is the same as a taxi service, but there is a thin line that separates the two. While traditional taxis — the kaali peelis (black-and-yellows) of Mumbai and Chennai, for example — are essentially vehicles for hire, thus making them more efficient than private vehicles, they too are underutilised for several reasons. Taxis, by virtue of operating under a static or fixed fare model, may be reluctant to ply outside their “areas”. Further, they are restricted to limited working hours which undermines the operational efficiency of the vehicle.

Ride-sharing has managed to solve this with two simple attributes: technology and labour flexibility.