Carpooling happens when two or more people, generally from different households share a car ride together to get to the same destination. People carpool together to save money on fuel, money on tolls and parking. Let’s understand more about what are the best carpooling apps.
This is another effective method to save the environment. While heading to work, you and your co-workers can get a head start while sitting in traffic. It is an efficient means to use your time effectively.
Carpooling cuts down the number of vehicles on road, hence lesser traffic leading to less carbon; helps keeping the water, air and land cleaner. Even when you do not have members travelling to the same destination, you can opt for the same route to be travelled to, the flexibility makes it convenient for a long distance commute.
With the ever increasing traffic in metropolitan cities, cab service companies like Uber came up with the idea of carpooling in the United States which spread across all the western cities. Although India has a long way to go in terms of carpooling, we still do have quite a few apps which can be taken into consideration for the same.
With growing awareness of the need to reduce traffic and pollution, the popularity of these rides is to grow steadily. Ola ‘share’ and uber are not the only ones which offer carpool services. Several carpool companies have come up with apps which help you connect with fellow commuters who are travelling the same route.
Even though companies have built the best technological solutions for consumers the laid back attitude does not quite seem to help get the carpool idea work its way through. Only time will tell whether this feature picks up in India or passes by as another failed attempt to reduce traffic and conserve the environment.
Let’s take a look at a few of the Carpool apps present in India today:-
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BlaBlaCar
In June 2011, Comuto introduced BlaBlaCar.com in the United Kingdom. In January 2015, BlaBlaCar expanded in India. The app was bought down to India taking in consideration the amount the festivities when the local commute like busses and trains were already packed and cab services increased their rent considering their high demand.
The app which is available for both iOS and Android, offers over a hundred routes in India alone, is available in major cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai. Post downloading the app, users can configure their social media profile with their BlaBlaCar profile and are also allowed to anonymously rate their drivers on the basis of safety and driving skills. Payments for your ride are made in cash only and you must have exact change in case your driver does not.
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UberPool
launched first in Delhi and Bangalore, UberPool has now extended its services to cities like Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad. The app enables you to share your ride with commuters with similar destinations.
If a single journey costs you Rs. 142/- independently then an UberPool shall cost you only Rs. 49/- Even if no passengers are taking the ride with you, you will still be charged the UberPool cost of Rs. 49/- So now when you open your Uber app, you will fine three options – UberGo, UberPool and UberMotor.
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SRide
Introduced in the year 2014, SRide aims at providing a cost-saving service to its commuters. The company also claims that over 10 billion gallons of fuel could be saved if commuters opt for carpool in India. Unlike other apps, SRide allows users to either offer their cars to the riders or get a car that is going towards their destination.
A background check of every SRide driver is done to ensure the safety and best possible service. Every rider is supposed to submit a review of the driver to provide a feedback to the other riders in future. The app is available in both Android and iOS features and payment can be done online or through PayTM.
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OlaShare
You can connect with fellow travellers without any prior planning, or any detour. OlaShare is now available in all major cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, etc. You can join a group based on your location or gender.
To book an OlaShare all you need to do is log in to your Ola app account and choose OlaShare. Before confirming your booking you would need to choose the number of seats you need to book.
Ola currently providing services in 110 cities across India, with around 125 million registered users is one of India’s largest taxi service providers. Ola recently announced it’s business which is set to expand to Australian cities Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
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ToGo (Together We Go)
while carpooling is yet to become mainstream, whether wanting to travel to office, airport or a nearby city, carpooling app helps making their journey an economical affair.
Vipin Raghavan, Parth Patel and Chintan Pandya are the founders of the ToGo app. This app supports an additional chat option wherein people can chat with each other to find suitable travel partners.
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ZIFY
This app aims at resolving the issues of heavy traffic in India which every working professional faces on a daily basis. The start-up is Hyderabad based and also has its own wallet for cashless transactions.
It provides a platform for all vehicle owners who can save a lot on their fuel and also help other travellers/commuters moving on the same route. ZIFY provides instant booking on their platform with pick-up and drop-off features.
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Ridely:
The owners Rachit, Varun and Ankur, former employees of Jabong quit their jobs to start this carpooling app in India. Ridely is one of the top 10 carpool apps in India today. Ridely the one year old app started its presence in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The app is available all across India for download for free.
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Ryde by Ibibo
Ryde offers a pet friendly riding option. Ryde allows you to see the cost of your rip on Uber and Grab and even metered taxis saving you the trouble to physically switch between apps and check prices.
Ryde operates in a similar space like BlaBlaCar but acts different as it saves space for both inter and intra city rides. Riders can chose the ride, chat with the driver, book their preferred seat also decide their pick up point.
The app also provides a history of both the driver and the passengers of the ride. Drivers get to choose their custom preferences of luggage, smoking, etc. The app also enables real time tracking of the vehicle.
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Carpool by Meru
The ride-share feature provides customers with yet another eco-friendly and convenient travel option from the house of Meru. The service as introduced specifically for the national capital region. Now expanded over the country, carpool by Meru is available in all the cities where Meru is already operating.
The company is targeting the top 20 cities which have 15 million cars. The app offers a personal car ride sharing option for people travelling in the same direction. The app has won several awards, including Trip Advisor’s Travellers Choice Award.
The unique part of the app is that the drivers can set their own rates. These rates are available to the riders prior to booking and help them compare and pick the lowest suitable fare for them.
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Orahi
Orahi is another carpooling not only offering all the features a great carpooling app should, it also allows you to chat with your rider and driver. You get to choose your ride with pairing yourself up with trusted friends you want to ride with.
The interesting feature in this app is that it has a ‘Panic’ button which alerts three other people nearby your location if you feel unsafe. You may also opt for a female ride only wherein the app ensures you are travelling with female passengers only.
The payment is made in cash or in terms of ‘green tokens’ which can be purchased online. Each token can be refunded for its full purchase price. Orahi is available on both Android and iOS.
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Tripda
It is an Indian carpooling app founded by Rocket Internet, which is completely free for its user. The four founders of the app are passionate about developing a sharing economy and reducing consumption of fossil fuel.
The app is available on Android and iOS platforms and like Orahi it also offers all female rides grouped and paired together easily. Passengers and drivers are required to rate each other to give other commuters a proper feedback before they take a ride.
The extra security feature on the app allows you to decide what information you wish to share with others on the app. Tripda mainly operate in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.
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Zimride:
Drivers on zimride can accept passengers based on their preferences, interests and past feedbacks. The driver has 24 hours to accept a ride from its passenger. Once the ride is confirmed, the billing happens through PayPal.
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Trees For Cars
Designed by a homeless man named Leo Grand, he was given free coding lessons during several weeks. Grand’s first move was to make this app to make share riding easier in order to decrease carbon emissions.
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Juno
Juno is a company at the start up level of a ride sharing app, still managing to facilitate many offers to its users. Juno is doing well alongside its business competitors because unlike Uber, Juno takes only 10% of the cut from each ride.
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GetAround:
This app can be compared t AirBnb but on wheel. It allows people to rent out their cars who want to share. The app allows you to unlock the vehicle with your smartphone. Car owners can rent out their cars for an hourly rate depending on the recommendation.
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Waze Carpool
waze carpool allows their riders to join their community like co-workers, neighbours and friends to save money every day. The app was launched in 2016. Riders just need to open the application and see who is on route and tap to share the ride. The app has 100 million active monthly users worldwide.
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Hitchhiker Carpooling
from the comfort of your home, office or wherever you are, you can book your ride right away or schedule it for later. The app allows you to ride between cities or between countries. The app also comes with an inbuilt chat feature which allows oyu to chat with co-passengers and drivers.
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Gett
Also known as Gettaxi in its earlier days, Gett is one of the top ridesharer apps used in London. The company also allows riders to carry goods along with them. Today Gett is available in more than 100 countries around the world. Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker invested $300 Million in Gett last year.
This helped them to expand their services in more countries and to compete with their competitor Uber in the international market. Gett is surge free, thus withstanding its position in the market.
Conclusion:
If there is a way to saving cost, then a majority of Indian consumers will try it. This is one major way ride sharing apps have been able to grow in India. Now with the price of petrol reaching Rs.82 per litre, there is a high chance people might be vying to get ride sharing apps.
There are several of these carpooling apps in India, to which people are unaware or are sceptical about using them or availing their service.
It gets worse when we are asked to travelling with strangers. We are still waiting and wanting to see carpool apps in India become mainstream so that the real-time issues of traffic, congestion and pollution is reduced if not eradicated completely.
All of these carpooling apps have their own benefits and unique features, you would have to give a couple of them a try and further decide which app suits you the best. All in all the demand for the ride sharing app in increasing and the country is running on it daily.