There would not be many among us who have not ridden a share taxi or a share autorickshaw. But how does the idea of ride-sharing, especially to workplaces or road trips, sound?
If you have been a victim of traffic congestion, mainly while driving to your workplace, and wish the pollutants you inhale lessen, here’s a new ride-sharing service introduced in the city. Letsride. An online platform that aims to gather people and create a community for those travelling to the same destination at the same time.
After successful stints in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, a trio is now urging Pune’s IT professionals and students to use this service. They are targeting areas adjoining Wakad and Hinjewadi that see traffic snarls during the morning and evening peak hours.
Leaving a successful IT career behind, the founder of Letsride aims to rope in as many as 10,000 users in the coming two months. The main motivation for starting this was the increasing number of vehicles and the traffic woes that the general public has to face. It is a common sight to see cars not being fully occupied or bikers without pillion riders. This platform basically functions to gather those people who work in same areas and commute during same timings.
For Kothrud resident who is an employee with KPIT Cummins, the ride-sharing initiative has come more as a blessing. A member of the Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA) said there are too many traffic and travel related grievances of employees and other regular commuters to Hinjewadi.
The association was brainstorming to see a permanent solution to the problems faced by the employees. When the Letsride team approached, they felt this service can be useful for all of them. With the company buses and cabs running on shifts and the public transport too being not very frequent, this initiative will be definitely good.
The team is in talks with IT firms, but there have not been any positive responses, it would be of great help to them if companies join them in taking forward this work. But as the companies have existing cab or bus services in place, they too are hesitant to take it up. It is only through social networking sites and other online medium that the team is advertising.
Every other person today is a member of atleast one social platform. So it is easy for them to reach to maximum number of people through the same.
Source: dnaindia, Jan’14
