Ride-hailing smartphone app, Uber, launched uberCOMMUTE in Bengaluru today.
A new product that lets drivers of private cars share their ride with fellow commuters headed in the same direction, uberCOMMUTE will be available between 7am to 9pm across the city. This launch comes just over three months after Uber launched uberPOOL in Bengaluru, where fellow riders can share their Uber ride and split the cost of their travel.
Bhavik Rathod, General Manager, Uber South & West said, “By making it easier and more convenient for people going in the same direction at the same time to share the journey, as well as the cost of the ride, smartphone apps like Uber can help cut congestion and pollution. We are excited to launch uberCOMMUTE in Bengaluru and offer Bangaloreans reliable, convenient and an even more affordable option to get around their city.”
Talking about the initiative, Boman Irani said, “Met Bhavik from Uber at the airport on my way to Bengaluru. He spoke to me about their carpool initiative. ‘Cancel your car’ he said ‘we should carpool when we reach Bangalore.’ And so it was. I encourage it.”
Bengaluru is the second city in India to experience uberCOMMUTE, after it was launched for drivers of private cars in Delhi last month.
With over 1,600 new cars hitting the streets of Bengaluru every day, the traffic congestion in the city has increased nearly threefold today, a problem that the Karnataka government and the Bangalore Traffic Police are working hard to resolve. uberCOMMUTE will help tackle congestion and pollution by getting more people in fewer cars. It’s a model that has worked in other major cities. For instance, carpooling now makes up nearly half of all Uber’s trips in San Francisco and over 30 per cent in Los Angeles. In its first eight months in LA, passengers did over 5 million carpool trips, cutting the number of km driven across town by 12.7 million and carbon dioxide pollution by 1,400 tonnes.
Uber, which is present in over 360 cities in 67 countries today, is available in 26 Indian cities, more than in any other country outside the US.