The Bangalorean commuter just got another option to try and beat the city’s legendary traffic jams. Uber, having recently launched its Uber Pool service in Bangalore, is now launching bike taxis in the city. While bike taxis already run in Gurgaon by companies like Baxi, this will be a first for Bangalore.
Dubbed uberMOTO, this bike taxi service might well be the cheapest way for a single commuter to get around in Bangalore. At Rs. 3/km, it handily beats both cabs and shared cabs in the economy department. One possible downside could be being exposed to the many pollutants that Bangalore tends to throw your way.
uberMOTO will operate much the same way as Uber cabs do – they bike taxis will be booked from the same app, and the driver’s name and picture will be shown to riders. Both the rider and the driver will be required to wear helmets as mandated by government rules. Like Uber Pool, this service will also run from 7am to 9 pm.
Bangalore, being India’s startup capital, has seen a slew of commute options, but they haven’t always met with support from the government. A popular shuttle service that ran in the city, ZipGo, was forced to halt its operations recently because its routes overlapped with the routes of state-run BMTC buses. Bike taxis are already a popular means to get around in South East Asia, and given how congested the roads in Bangalore are, they seem to be a good way to reduce traffic and get people around cheaply. Lets hope the Karnataka government cooperates.