[TusharK]

Uber has received a government nod to operate its bus services in the national capital. The license has been granted under the Delhi government’s app-based premium bus aggregator scheme.



The app-based bus aggregator scheme aims to encourage the upper middle class to switch to public transport. Under the scheme, aggregators can set dynamic pricing. However, the prices must not be less than the peak fare of DTC air-conditioned buses.

The bus service will be integrated into the Uber app, allowing users to book bus rides on select routes. Speaking of routes, Uber plans to connect business districts with residential areas across Delhi. The buses will have a seating capacity of 19 to 50 people.

India is the second country after Egypt where Uber operates buses under the Uber Shuttle service. The service is also available in Kolkata.

Source: ET Auto

Link to Team-BHP news

[nagarjun]

Indeed a great news. We need more private players with more technological prowess to de congest our cities. Local transport corporations doesn't have the will or tools to identify the needs and serve. They are too slow in adding new routes or scouting for them. They don't provide a robust tracking mechanism.

I also like it that there rules to ensure the fare is not below the govt-backed public transport.

[libranof1987]

I don't have a lot of hope from this. The moment the service goes live, there will be a long line of disgruntled businesses / people that will create issues. The business model isn't new, Ola had launched Ola Shuttle in a few cities, and had to shut it down immediately.

Cab aggregator Ola had also started shuttle services but stopped the operations immediately after the transport department threatened to cancel the license.

The department was acting primarily after the BMTC complained that these startups were running only on the profitable routes. The state-owned bus operator started losing passengers as these companies of offered passengers seating booking facility and on-demand seating booking facility and on-demand service.

Source

It is clear that individual Govt. departments aren't really communicating with each other when drafting policy.

Given our limited infrastructure, and limited scope for development for new infrastructure, the Govt. should encourage services that allow public sharing of resources. That said, there is merit in say, the BMTC (Bangalore), or Metro of some city protesting against this, as these services have invested immense capital expenditure. The onus then is on the Govt. to ensure a level playing field for all.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Thread moved to the Commercial Vehicle section!

[Maverick Avi]

Uber service has nose dived atleast in Delhi. Most of their drivers do not turn up and we have given up on them in case we need a commute that is time bound. Coming up with a new service with an already dwindling car ride business is just burning cash. It might start off well due to novelty but has lot of challenges too. Our company did away with shuttles and switched back to cabs due to lot of problems with shuttle based transport system in NCR. It ain't gonna work.

[ALTIMAed]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I don't have a lot of hope from this. The moment the service goes live, there will be a long line of disgruntled businesses / people that will create issues. The business model isn't new, Ola had launched Ola Shuttle in a few cities, and had to shut it down immediately.

In Delhi NCR, this service is very much operational. For two months, prior to purchasing my car, I have availed this service. Extremely convenient, on time, neat and clean interiors and very powerful air conditioning. On a couple of occasions, the bus got cancelled, immediately, they (automatically on my phone, a message appeared, mentioning they have allotted a cab (single occupancy)). As their user, I am impressed. I keep seeing their buses on the road. Another service that operates with Tempo Traveller is Early Shuttle. I have availed them just once, found the knee room of their seats too cramped.

[nagarjun]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Given our limited infrastructure, and limited scope for development for new infrastructure, the Govt. should encourage services that allow public sharing of resources. That said, there is merit in say, the BMTC (Bangalore), or Metro of some city protesting against this, as these services have invested immense capital expenditure. The onus then is on the Govt. to ensure a level playing field for all.

I have a slightly different take on this. Today in Bangalore, the longest metro service takes more than 1 hr to reach from one end of the line to the other end. Standing this long in a crowded train with no seat may not be feasible option for all. Ideally these long distances should be covered by sub-urban trains with a seat, but somehow the powers to be are fantasized by the glitz of metros and extending them to suburbs as well.

I am hoping that these buses are a solution for such use cases. For example the BMTC Volvos to Airport a hit, exactly due to this reason. They offer most probably a seat, air conditioning for the long ride which can take anywhere from 1 to 1.5hrs. They are priced premium compared to the regular BMTC buses, which is rightly so.

Even in the above news article, I saw that there is a condition that Uber should not price the tickets lower than the premium service of the DTC.I

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

I have slightly different take on this. Today in Bangalore, the longest metro service takes more than 1 hr to reach from one end of the line to the other end. Standing this long in a crowded train with no seat may not be feasible option for all. Ideally these long distances should be covered by sub-urban trains with a seat, but somehow the powers to be are fantasized by the glitz of metros and extending them to suburbs as well.

The same 1 hour could convert to 3 hours on road !

Govt provided public transport companies should be subsidized if they are running losses operating non-profitable routes. Dont we already give away so much money in the name of welfare ?

[darkchild82]

Hats off to Delhi government for allowing this. A startup tried to do this in Bengaluru a few years ago and ran into issues with the then govt. The IT class desperately needs this in Bengaluru, especially on Outer Ring Road!

[GoBabyGo]

Hi, I have used Shuttle service from Rohini, Delhi to Gurugram (I don't remember exact time, but around 2016 & 17). I was resident of Delhi then and work in Gurugram. It was a superhit service back then and almost all the routes were fully booked and it was blessing to female passengers. Although comfort level is based on user's luck which type of bus she/he get because some buses are small sized buses which did not have much knee room.

I wish this time Delhi Government, to encourage people to use it, offer subsidy through some way. May be they issue payment gateway subsidy refund option and user have to punch in for entry and punch out for exit to get the benefit of subsidy immediately after the exit of the journey. This way it will not be expensive for users (as of now it is very expensive compared to Metro & DTC).

The biggest hurdle I see about this service is traffic, specially Delhi to Gurugram route. If possible, Govt. make right most lane reserved for these buses (& also for DTC) during peak hours from Dhaula Kuan to Gurugram, Dwarka exit to Gurugram & MG Road so that the buses will get free passage to move and travel duration is reduced which encourage people to shift from private vehicle to these buses.

I know it is easy to write then implement, specially when traffic police don't come under Delhi Government, but I wish someway they find a solution for dedicated lane for buses during peak hours.