redBus, a Bengaluru-based bus ticketing platform has launched ‘rPool’ – a carpooling service. The service allows office commuters to ride in and as well offer rides in their vehicles to others while commuting from home to office and vice versa.
As per the company, the pooling service leverages advanced technology to connect ride givers and takers in a quick and possible driveway. The algorithm enables ride givers not to diverge from their work route and ride ensures ride takers get to travel the maximum distance of their commute.
redBus launches its service in three major cities Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune and the rPool service is available in the app. The company claims that rPool services are initiated to deal with the increasing traffic.
Prakash Sangam, CEO stated that,
“rPool, our new carpooling service, is a systematic solution, not only to decongest roads but also offer commuters, a viable option that helps them save fuel and time. With the right implementation and adoption at scale, carpooling can significantly reduce vehicular traffic during peak hours in urban cities.”
A ride to the story
reBusBus is an online bus-ticketing organization present in India, Singapore, Indonesia, Peru, and Colombia offering services to over 5 million riders globally. In June 2013 Ibibo, an online travel organization founded by Ashish Kashyap in January 2007 acquires the company for INR 800 Crore, by Ibibo.
For redBus Case Study
The company till date claimed to have sold over 80 million bus tickets and has a customer base of approximately 20 million users. redBus is also a part of MakeMyTrip group, which is also an online travelling company.
Prakash explains that with the help of rPool platform, a person can save approximately 5 litres of fuel and can reduce the CO2 emissions to around 11kgs. This is possible when four people share a car for nearly 10km.
Operations of rPool services
The rPool services by redBus constrain to working professionals who take daily commute. The users are verified through via mobile number and their corporate email id.
The service may offer zero commission for five years for the first 500 ride givers of Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad each. Besides, ride givers also receive reward points that can be redeemed at fuel stations and Amazon Pay. rPool also provides accident insurance at a free cost for each ride.
The carpooling also enables women to ride givers or takers to choose to travel with women. The system will use a number blurring to allow users to connect through the app by not revealing their phone numbers to each other by securing privacy.
The service is similar to that of ride-hailing services by Ola and Uber.
According to Statista reports, the prediction says that the revenue of Indian cab- hailing service market is to reach $41,059 million with a growth rate CAGR of 8.8% by 2023.
As per 2019 reports by Market Watch, in 2018, the carpooling market raised at $4250 million and expected to increase to $11,400 millions by 2025.
