Carpoolers awarded at green mela

BENGALURU: Cheaper, environment-friendly and an unconventional way of making friends,

carpooling

has been drawing an increasing number of patrons over the past few years, partly helped by the entry of apps. Dozens of carpoolers were awarded for being ‘

green riders

’ on Friday.

Those honoured at the event in Embassy

Manyata

Business Park were all users of Quickride, a two and a half year old carpooling and ride-sharing app founded by KNM Rao. The awards were part of the Green Rider mela organized by the park to promote carpooling, bike-sharing and public transport.

Embassy

launched the initiative in October last year, with the aim of reducing traffic and pollution caused by vehicles entering and exiting the premises. To achieve this, they tied up with three carpooling service providers — Quickride, sRide and W’heal Our World.

“We have close to 2 lakh users in Bengaluru, and we’ve tied up with six of the 10 major tech companies in the city. If the app was not operating, there would be 10,000 more cars on the road. The app is for corporate employees, and potential ride-takers and offerers must register with their organizational email accounts. The app cannot be treated as a commercial project, as the cost of sharing is decided mutually by the two parties,” explained Rao.

Reduces traffic congestion
“Despite having a car, I used to ride to work from Ramamurthy Nagar. I don’t think it is right to use a car if you are the only passenger, which is why I would use the bike. I discovered the app last year, and started using my car once again. With carpooling, there are fewer cars on the road, which eases traffic congestion. We are automatically alerted about ride-sharers en route, and I have made several friends during the ride,” said Abhiram Gurijala, who was among the awardees.

Safe, cheaper option

“I used to travel in BMTC buses, but this is a much cheaper option. I live in Marathahalli and it would cost me Rs 75 to get to office. After switching to QuickRide, the cost came down to Rs 60-70. If you’re a woman, the app gives you the choice of riding with another woman. However, I’m comfortable with sharing the ride with both men and women. Also, carpooling is safer than using cabs, as both the riders and sharers are registered users who work in the same office environment,” said Neha Garg, another beneficiary who won the honour.

Networking platform
“I live in Rajajinagar, and since there are no direct buses to Manyata, I had to take three different buses to office. Additionally, bus timings were not at all flexible, and the last one would leave from near office around 7pm. Carpooling was a more comfortable alternative, so I decided to start using the app. Though talkative, members of the carpool are very professional. We discuss what’s happening at work, and if there are people from different companies, they even tell us about openings in their companies,” said Gaurav Naik, another QuickRide user.