In a bid to reduce pollution levels in Indian metros, Uber has partnered with technology-driven mobility platform Yulu to provide users the option to ride e-bikes and bicycles in Bengaluru. These e-bikes can clock a speed of 25 km/hr, which Uber says is faster than the average traffic speed in most cities (under 20 km/hr on an average).
Uber is currently running this pilot in Bengaluru with Yulu. Users don’t even require a licence to ride one a Yulu Bike. Through this tie-up, Uber riders can now book e-bikes and bicycles through its app. Yulu’s dockless bicycles, which use IoT as the backbone of the operation, can be rented on a pay-per-use basis.
The Yulu e-bikes can be unlocked with QR codes on your device, to enable pick up and return throughout the urban centers of Bengaluru. As part of the partnership, Uber is also offering the first three rides for free for first-time users.
Yulu in a Bengaluru-based bike-sharing startup founded by InMobi co-founder Amit Gupta, RK Mishra, Hemant Gupta, and Naveen Dachuri in 2017.
“Along with being environment and traffic friendly, these self-ride e-bikes are also pocket friendly, taking into account the varying needs and budgets of the consumer. We understand that the push towards electrification has to be multi-modal, and the collaboration with Yulu only goes to demonstrate the intent therein,” Uber said in a statement.
All you need to do to hop on to an e-bike or bicycle is tap on the ‘Try Yulu’ option on your Uber app and follow the prompts.
“Uber’s partnership with Yulu will make the urban commute efficient and ecofriendly. People can now save their time by using Yulu’s e-bike and reduce the traffic woes. The partnership will benefit everyone as they can now use the e-bike to ride to a certain traffic congestion point and take public transport. We, at Yulu are looking to bring a wave of change in the entire country, and while we started with few cities, it is time take this revolution to different cities within India,” Yulu says.
Cities in India are seeing traffic get more clogged by the minute, and these micro-mobility options would go a long way in reducing traffic snarls, saving time for the riders, and reducing carbon emissions.