With fuel prices on the rise in India, shared mobility has gained more importance than ever. And cashing in on this opportunity are Ola and Uber, which continue to push their shared mobility offerings Ola Share and UberPool respectively. Global studies suggest one shared vehicle has the potential to take 9-13 cars off the road.
Ever since both players launched their respective shared mobility offerings, they have been positioning them as a medium to reduce CO2 emissions, reduce traffic congestion and of course, fuel costs.
According to data shared by Uber, pool rides have increased by 2000% across 7 cities in India over last year. UberPool is present in 12 cities overall. Over 39% of all Uber trips in Kolkata are uberPOOL trips, followed by Bengaluru (37%)
In Chennai and Bengaluru, the number of Uber Pool trips increased by two times each with a 228% increase in Chennai and a 218% increase in Bengaluru.
Ola too, claims that Ola Share saw 2X growth in the past one year with Bengaluru and Kolkata registering maximum shared rides. These cities were followed by Chennai and Mumbai.
As per data shared by Ola, it has seen a 60% increase in the use of Ola Share by office goers and a 70% increase in adoption of Ola Share from mass transit hubs like metro stations and bus depot in top 7 cities with Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Pune registering the maximum adoption, followed by Hyderabad and Delhi.
According to the Green Index released by the company on World Environment Day, Uber claims that UberPOOL has helped the country save roughly around $4.5 million in fuel import costs across 12 cities in India, saving 10,340 kilo litres of fuel. In addition, it claims that uberPOOL has helped avoid over 200 trillion kms of independent travel has helped prevent over 36,537 tonnes (36,537,000 kg) of CO2 emissions in India.
“The growing trends towards shared mobility are an encouraging sign for us in driving a positive socio-economic change and create viable alternatives to private car ownership. Ridesharing technologies like Uber can be play a key role in complementing the government’s efforts towards reducing congestion and pollution. As more people in more cities use uberPOOL, we can help contribute to a real alternative to a world that moves like a jam, looks like a parking lot and breathes like a gas chamber,” Christian Freese, GM - South Uber India said.
Ola, on its part, announced th second edition of its initiative to reduce traffic, carbon footprint, and resulting pollution through the adoption of shared mobility ‘#FarakPadtaHai (#FPH)’
Through this initiative, Ola calls its customers and communities at large to switch to shared mobility solutions and this year is launching a week-long offer, starting June 5, where commuters can book free rides from mass transit locations such as metro stations, railway stations, and bus stops. This will be across top 7 cities i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.
“At Ola, we believe ridesharing has the power to change the social fabric of our country with #FarakPadtaHai acting as a catalyst… In the past one year, last mile commute emerged as the newest use case for Ola Share. To encourage this spirit of commuters, we’re delighted to offer 1 lakh free Ola Share rides from mass transit locations,” Pallav Singh, Senior Vice President at Ola said.