NEW AGE COMMUTING FOR DHAKATIES

Tasnim Nabil writes about how app-based commuting is changing Dhaka

Proudly venturing into the dynamic and progressive world, Bangladesh is now experiencing a real good time. The revolution in the digital platforms is being influenced by every sphere of society. People here are already standing one step ahead by being glued to these technologies. In general, people have always been searching for the freshest approach to set up a new level of efficiency in their daily routines where they intend to appear to be much more productive. And in such a case, technology developers have invested most of their time in developing all possible sorts of apps which can be used by the general people all the time. Evolving the apps for everything, by the time has been exceptionally useful for regular use. So why not think a bit extra about the commuting service? Well, Bangladesh has certainly been successful in this regard, conveniently mobilizing the digital commuting experience for the past few years. All the startups like

Uber, Pathao, Chalo, AmarRide and other relevant communities have been intrinsically dominating the market. Uber, an American hailing ride service headquartered in San Francisco decided to step in Bangladesh last year and precisely it became the most popular and crowd-pleasing car ride sharing service in a very short span of time among the users. The service has been the newest and freshest concept in Bangladesh and the metamorphosis has been prominently influential among the app users where they find it very convenient. It needs a smart device where individuals get the access to this service effectively by downloading the application from Google play store and Apple store. The basic users of this service are the numerous office employees and businessmen and even students sometimes enjoy the privilege to get to any place quickly and comfortably. Farhad Mahmud, CEO of Annex Global Sourcing, has been using this service from the very first day as he genuinely finds it convenient. While complimenting the service, he says, “Uber has been a real time saver for me and I can use it whenever I need to reach to my clients at the shortest notice.” However, considering the recent issues, there has been some complaints regarding the service, as some unethical and unprofessional drivers proved to be amateurs and incompetent. Even the government raised certain objections in regard to giving legitimate permission to run this sort of taxi service. But, it is quite exhilarating that the government officials aspire to make a compact ride sharing guideline soon enough in keeping in line with the digital era. Another promising part about this platform is they maintain their communication through social media sites where the users can easily get connected to the high officials and they

have been sharing all sorts of their problems and getting solutions instantly. Another dynamic developer team of this country popped up with something phenomenal last year. The venture is called Pathao, a motor bike ride sharing option. Pathao appears to be the most innovative breakthrough in the ride sharing revolution. It comes with the opportunity of the rider, who is generally referred to as a Pathao rider, to share the motor bike with a passenger where the overall activity is being executed by a smart phone app which runs via mobile geo-location technology. It is also highly effective especially in a gridlocked city like Dhaka. But the Pathao riders punch the clock by convincingly beating the traffic jam. Pathao is being frequently used by the regular office employees, businessmen and a greater part of the users are students because of the convenient fares offered by the startup. Piyal Hossain, an employee from an international NGO has been passing tough times with the everyday traffic issues and this ride sharing service is most serviceable for him. He appreciated this venture and said, “I mostly use this service to reach my office and again to reach home after office and in emergency cases as well”. He also appreciates that the app ensures that the rider has worn a helmet or that he has been provided with one.

Despite facing some security concerns because there is no valid permission for this kind of motor bike on-demand-ride-hailing service in Bangladesh right now, the high officials from Pathao confirmed that as an innovative logistical startup, soon in the future they are going to incorporate some plans which will ensure legitimate endorsement from BRTA and will ensure proper surveillance and security. The other individual contenders like Chalo, AmarRide, Taxiwala have been also doing great in the digital ride sharing platform. Their user friendly service has been the talk of town. Ezzyr, an initiative of Innovadeous Pvt. Ltd, which offers both car and motor bike ride sharing option at the same time, has lately hit the stage. Towards the end, these services are about to have another international competitor from India named The Ola Cab. The Ola Cab has been giving tough competition to Uber and is eagerly waiting to step in the international market starting with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The interactions through these digital mediums have been quite remarkable now in Bangladesh. The app developers as well as the entrepreneurs are getting encouraged by the ICT ministry and they promisingly intend to make this platform better with a collaborative effort in the coming days.