In the most traffic congested city in the world, people are ditching Ola and Uber for local startup rides

• Bengaluru has just been ranked as the most traffic congested city in the world, where commuters spend an extra 71% of their travel time stuck on the roads.
  
• To deal with traffic, commuters are leaving behind Uber and Ola to opt for rides from local startups which are witnessing a boom in business.
  
• Startups like QuickRide, MoveInSync with its offering GetToWork and Bounce, are becoming more and more popular with users.
  

Bengaluru has just been ranked as the most traffic congested city in the world, where commuters spend an extra 71% of their travel time stuck on the roads. According to a report by TomTom, Bengaluru beat 415 other cities across 57 countries, to earn this dubious distinction.

As the metro connectivity is still sparse, most Bangaloreans commute by road. But interestingly, office-goers who still want to make it to work on time are exploring new ways of commuting instead of the traditional Uber and Ola.

Startups like QuickRide, MoveInSync with its offering GetToWork and Bounce, are becoming more and more popular with users.

Abhishek Raj, a working professional uses QuickRide the carpooling and bike pooling app to reach office. “The fare is 25% lesser compared to Ola and Uber, there’s also flexibility as there are no cancellation charges,” he said.

What's more, in true Bangalorean startup style, he said that carpooling also makes for great conversations with co-passengers and often results in networking.

Interestingly, according to a recent report by QuickRide, Bengaluru has the highest carpooling rides in a day along with 45% women carpoolers. In 2019, QuickRide registered 22,00,000 new users and witnessed a 4X growth in carpooling.

Rent a scooty on Bounce
Another startup that has become a favourite in Bengaluru is Bounce. Working in shared mobility and bike rental, one can book a Bounce and just walk up to the closest available scooty. All they need to do in the end is leave the scooty in a designated parking area.

“I recently moved to Bengaluru and the primary reason I use Bounce is to save time. When you book a cab, you have to wait for some time before the cab arrives, but with Bounce you can just get going almost immediately after booking. Of course, it saves money too,” said Tanya Singh, another working professional in the city.

Bounce charges a rupee per kilometre, which is lower than auto fares in the city where rickshaw drivers refuse to turn on the meter.

Bounce operates over 20,000 bikes in the city. The startup recently raised a series D round of funding of $105 million from Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and Accel Partners. According to reports, the startup clocks over 1,20,000 rides per day making it over 16 million rides till date.

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