Your ride is here! Chennai turns to carpooling to save a few rupees

Your ride is here! Chennai turns to carpooling to save a few rupees

After A Covid Lull, Leading Carpooling Apps Report A Surge In Users As Offices Reopen

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

01.10.2021

As people return to workplaces, car pooling, which turned non-existent during the lockdown, is once again rising to prominence. More than four lakh people in the city are subscribed to various carpooling apps, revealed data from top private companies in this sector.

Pre-Covid, major apps got around 15,000 bookings a day. But their service came to an abrupt halt during the lockdown. While the government began relaxing curbs, trains and buses were off the tracks and roads for a long time. Meanwhile, cab-aggregators like Ola and Uber too suspended ride-sharing options. So, office-goers who could not afford to take a cab solo or buy vehicles turned to carpooling.

With few buses, no trains and unregulated auto rickshaw services, Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) has emerged the most popular route for carpooling in Chennai. Other top areas include Guindy, Ashok Nagar, Kodambakkam and Adyar. In the suburbs, such apps are mostly used by people travelling to Ambattur and Perambur.

“With more IT companies opening up now, we expect the numbers to go up in the coming days,” said K N M Rao, founder and CEO of Quick Ride, a leading carpooling app.

These apps are very user-friendly. Any user who owns a car can offer a ride from point A to B. Other users in the vicinity get a notification and can accept the ride offer in case they too are travelling on the same route. At the end of the trip, the app generates the rate based on distance travelled.

“Carpooling definitely helps in reducing traffic congestion, pollution levels and helps save on fuel cost,” said J Sivasubramaniam from Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

A back-ofthe-envelope calculation shows that a car owner can save at least ₹50,000 every year should they opt for carpooling.

Besides mobile apps, there are hundreds of social media pages and WhatsApp groups where users regularly post messages on ride offers and seat availability. Most posts are put up the previous evening so interested people can confirm bookings at the earliest. Over a period of time, trends show that commuters choose the same set of co-riders with whom they feel comfortable and safe, say carpooling operators.

Naveen Pandiarajan, a Renault Nissan employee, is a part of a WhastApp group named ‘RN Carpool’. This group has been helping him and his friends, residing in and around Perumbakkam and Sembakkam, travel to their offices for nearly two years.

“We take turns driving our cars so there is no fatigue. By carpooling, we end up saving at least ₹2,000 every month,” said Naveen.