Getting Around India's Cities
Shared Mobility and Carpooling
How shared rides, carpooling and office shuttles can cut costs and congestion, and why pooled ride-hailing services struggled in India.
Shared mobility puts more people in fewer vehicles.
Types
- Shared autos and taxis on fixed routes.
- Carpooling apps.
- Office shuttles and app-based buses.
Pooled ride-hailing
Ola Share and Uber Pool offered cheaper shared rides but were suspended during COVID-19 in 2020 and not widely revived, due to low margins and detours.
App-based buses
Startups like Shuttl ran office buses; some folded, while others continue.
Legal issues
Private car carpooling for money can conflict with commercial vehicle rules.
Benefits
- Lower cost per rider.
- Less congestion and pollution.
Challenge
Coordinating riders’ routes and timings is hard.
In many cities, shared autos run fixed routes, picking up several passengers each paying a small fare.
Shared autos have long existed.
- Shared mobility fills vehicles.
- Pooled ride-hailing struggled after 2020.
- Carpooling faces legal hurdles.
- Coordination is the challenge.
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