The Indian mobility sector, which has recovered 63 per cent as of January 2021 in the wake of the Covid pandemic, is witnessing a huge uptake in intercity one-way trips, a trend that promises to continue this year.

From unlock 1.0 in June 2020 to the present, Savaari Car Rentals has seen a growth of 800 per cent for its intercity one-way services and now anticipates a further 300 per cent uptick in demand for the same. Chennai-Kolkata, Delhi-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Ranchi and Chandigarh-Hyderabad were the most popular one-way routes recorded on Savaari during the pandemic.

Future urban mobility post Covid-19

Preference for car rentals

“We offer 15 lakh routes across India. Pre-Covid, majority of our revenue came from round trips as our focus is on intercity travel. While we also offered one-way trips, it was not our mainstay. The unanticipated nation-wide lockdown announcement left millions of people stranded in different cities. These people were on the lookout for the first opportunity to travel back to their home towns. We decided to expand our one-way services across 5 lakh routes in Tier I, II and III cities, which now contribute to 65 per cent of our intercity trips, up from 10 per cent pre-Covid. People preferred our car rentals where they get door-to-door service and have to interact with just the driver, unlike other travel modes like air, train or bus which were all running at very low capacities and where the probability of coming in contact with many people is much higher,” said Gaurav Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Savaari Car Rentals, which is at 80 per cent recovery compared to pre-Covid levels.

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Zoomcar, which has seen a 100 per cent recovery in its business since end-October, has also seen a similar upsurge in demand for one-way travel. “One-way intercity travel, which constituted 1 per cent of our revenue rose to over 10 per cent post Covid. The popular routes have been from Tier 1 cities to closer destinations within a 300-km range, like Bengaluru to Mysuru, Hyderabad to Chennai, Delhi to Agra, Mumbai to Pune, etc” said Greg Moran, CEO and co-founder, Zoomcar.

“We have also launched free float, which is one-way travel within the city, for example, Koramangala to Jayanagar within Bengaluru, and have seen huge demand there as well”, added Moran. Piloted in Bengaluru last year, free float is currently available in key cities.

Strong signs of recovery

The country’s largest mobility services platform Ola saw 76 per cent of customers from metros and Tier 2 cities preferring cabs and opting for one-way trips for its Ola Outstation offering since September, as it provides a safer alternative to crowded mass transit hubs. Launched in 2016, Ola Outstation covers over 11,000 destinations and offers door-to-door, personalised packages to cater to the dynamic needs of the Indian traveller. Bengaluru to Mysuru, Hosur, Tumkur, Nandi Hills; Delhi to Meerut, Jaipur, Agra, Chandigarh and Mumbai to Pune, Nasik, Lonavala, Alibaug, were some of the popular routes on Ola Outstation.

“As cities open up across the country, our intercity services are showing strong signs of recovery with metros like Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad leading the way. Higher rider demand speaks to the trust they place in our on-demand intercity service, which is convenient, affordable and a safer mobility option in the new normal. Additionally, recovery for our low-cost products Auto and Moto, in terms of gross bookings, has also exceeded pre-Covid levels” said an Uber spokesperson.

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