Odd-Even Formula Inspires Uber To Launch Car Pooling Service In New Delhi; Aims To Tap 27 Lakh Private Cars

As per various estimates, a typical Delhi citizen spends close to 90 minutes per day commuting to and from work place. This amounts to 17 days a year. Uber is trying to bring down this number by their car-pooling service.

After Bangalore, Uber has now decided to launch car pooling in Delhi as well, wherein they will try to tap 27 lakh private cars and encourage them to use Uber app to pick and drop random strangers.

As per Uber, their car pooling service in Delhi would be launched from December 16^th, 2015. After Bangalore, Delhi would be the second city wherein Uber will allow non-commercial vehicle owners to offer their services via Uber app. 20% of the income generated via car pooling would be charged by Uber from every car owner.

In order to use this new service, Delhi users need to choose a car pool from ‘Uber Go’ option on their app; which will pair them with another car which is going in the same direction. As per Uber, car pooling using Uber will cost 250-30% less for the passengers, compared to using their own cars.

This service would be available between 7 AM and 9 PM, and users would be allowed to offer their cars or use others’ cars only after a screening process.

In order to ensure safety, Uber has informed that users can see other passengers’ details, enable GPS tracking, enable ‘Share my Journey’ option and use HELP button in case of emergency.

Solution for Odd-Even Formula?

Delhi Government has recently announced their odd-even formula to bring down pollution level in the city. As per this, odd and even numbered cars would be allowed on alternate days, as Delhi Govt. aims to bring down total number of cars in the roads.

Uber has been really quick to use this opportunity for launching their car-pooling service. In a blog post, Uber said, “Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities. The government has taken a number of bold steps to deal with this problem. But we all need to do more to drive change in our city”, adding, “Getting more butts into fewer cars is an important step towards reducing congestion and pollution in the capital over time.“

As per Uber’s blog, carpooling constitutes 50% of all Uber rides in San Francisco, and 30% in Los Angeles, hence possibility of its success is more in a city like Delhi. When Uber carpooling was introduced in Los Angeles, then passengers did over 5 million trips using this service, thereby cutting down 12.7 million kms in standard trips and reducing pollution by 1400 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide.

But considering the dismal safety situation in the National Capital, and increasing cases of violence, will Uber’ car pooling service work in Delhi?

Will you use Uber for car pooling?

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