Cab aggregator launches nationwide campaign called ‘Decongest India’ to promote concept

Amid reports that shared cab rides may be banned in Delhi, cab aggregator Uber has pitched for promoting shared mobility to help de-congest “overburdened” roads in the Capital, which have nearly 1 crore registered vehicles.

In its submission to the Delhi government, the US-based aggregator has recommended the use of existing motorcycles as ‘bike taxis’ for last-mile connectivity, besides streamlining the process for converting existing private vehicles into commercial ones so that these can be “shared and used for commercial purpose”.

Uber has also recommended leveraging technology so that hardware such as meters and printers in cars can be done away with.

Savings galore

“More than 30% of our total trips in Delhi are shared trips. Over time, shared cab riders here have contributed to saving over 19 million kilometres driven, which equals to saving of 936 kilolitres of fuel and cutting over 22 lakh kg of carbon dioxide emissions,” said Prabhjeet Singh, General Manager, Uber (North India).

According to a report released by the company, of the 97 lakh vehicles registered in the city, over 93% are private vehicles. “In just one year, over 6.1 lakh private vehicles were added,” said Uber Head of Public Policy (India and South Asia) Shweta Rajpal Kohli.

She pointed out that the average time people spend on Delhi roads has doubled over the last six years as the speed of traffic has come down by half.

“As of 2016, Delhiites spent 3.43 hours on the road for a distance of 40 km as compared to 1.36 hours in 2011,” the report said.

Uber has also launched a nationwide campaign called ‘Decongest India’ to promote the concept of shared mobility and how it can ease the stress on urban transportation. The campaign will soon be expanded to other cities like Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Policy makers

“…we are hoping to draw the attention of policy makers on how cars can be part of the solution, instead of the problem,” Ms. Kohli said.

She added that it was important that private car ride-sharing becomes mainstream as private cars remain unutilised for 96% of the time, with an average occupancy rate of just 1.14 person per car.

According to estimates, traffic speeds in Delhi could come down to 5 km per hour in the next 10 years, which is the average speed of walking, the company pointed out.

Asked about the rapid growth in number of commercial vehicles in Delhi, Ms. Kohli said, “these account for less than 1% of the total registered cars”.

Interestingly, an IIT-Madras report had said that the cost of congestion on Delhi’s roads amounted to about ₹60,000 crore per year, which includes cost of loss of productivity, accidents and fuel wastage. This number is likely to go up to ₹98,000 crore by 2030.