Solo rides will now win over group mobility: Yulu's Amit Gupta
Bike rental startup Yulu surveyed users' commute choices post-lockdown, and the results revealed a considerable increase in people opting for personal vehicles to prioritise social distancing
From the rise of the sharing economy, Young India is moving quickly to small and solo, choosing cycles/ e-bikes to commute to work for health and safety. Bike rental startup Yulu’s co-founder, Amit Gupta, speaks to Forbes India about the future of mobility in a post-Covid-19 world. Edited excerpts:
Q. What will transportion look like in the Post-Covid-19 world in India, in the medium and long term?
Social distancing is likely to become the norm while people commute too. Solo ridership, safety and sanitisation will take priority. We did a survey on urban commuting post-lockdown, and got some interesting insights. It clearly underlined that safety from the coronavirus remains the topmost priority for everyone who is commuting. Another interesting finding was that 70 percent of users preferred to pay a premium over and above the regular cost for safety and sanitisation.
As Yulu’s model focuses on the solo commute, we are witnessing a V-shaped recovery, with 1.6X growth in the percentage of new users and a 50 percent increase in the distance as well as usage time.
Q. What will happen to public transport, especially when the majority can’t afford private vehicles?
Given the current situation, people would be hesitant to choose crowded commute options. Public transport saw a drop of 24.6 percent in our recent survey. Current public transport infrastructure cannot meet this new demand of ensuring social distancing, and it is unrealistic to expect everybody to have access to a private vehicle.
Reinventing is the only option. Public transport will have to realign to social distancing norms, by expanding services, boosting capacity and increasing frequency, and implementing new methods of seating and frequent sanitisation.
