Uber the largest on demand ridesharing company have announced the completion of 500 million trips, a key milestone in its four year journey in India. This also comes at a time when the company announced marking double digit growth in the country, and almost 2.5x YoY growth as of June’ 2017.
Commenting on the occasion, Amit Jain, President, Uber India & South Asia said
This is a significant landmark for Uber in India. Four years ago, India was the 18th country in the world to experience the magic of ‘push a button and get a ride’, when we launched in Bangalore with just 3 employees. Today, we are over a 1000 member team who share the common vision of redefining the future of urban mobility. Achieving new milestones and continuing our exponential growth journey is a reflection of a strong business we’re building in India. I’m humbled at the pace at which Uber has grown and the impact we continue to make to the lives of our riders, driver partners and the cities we operate in.
A look at the journey so far…
Growth with impact
Since August 2013, the growing number of driver partners and riders who embraced the new idea of ridesharing and disruptive technology is remarkable. Ever since, the pace of adoption across the country has been truly exceptional. In 4 years, Uber expanded its service to 29 cities across the country.From providing riders with multiple choices to creating micro-entrepreneurship opportunities, more and more people continue to rely on the service for their daily commute and livelihood, which resulted in double digit growth in the country with the business growing by 2.5x in June 2017 YoY.
Partners in growth
4,50,000 registered driver partners – the magnitude of their commitment and ambition is commendable. Four years in, Uber has created flexible working opportunities for tens of thousands of driver partners. Through UberSHAAN, Uber aims to create 1 million livelihood opportunities as micro-entrepreneurs in India by 2018. Today, they are carving out better, more secure futures for their families by making the pivotal switch to be an independent entrepreneur. They keep cities moving every day, helping riders get to where they need to be. Today, over 80% Uber rides are rated a 5-star experience, none of which would have been possible without their commitment and dedication.
Riders who trust in Uber
Riders and driver-partners have travelled over 5,791,025,961 Km together! With over 5 million weekly active riders in the country, India continues to be one of the biggest markets for Uber, outside the U.S. Whether it’s a ride to work, or one after a night out, Uber is committed to provide a service so reliable and affordable that it drives a fundamental shift from the prevailing paradigm of private car ownership to one of shared commute.
Multiple vehicle options
Every geographic region has its own unique transportation requirements and challenges, and the same reflects in Uber’s diverse product portfolio for the Indian-market. With seven vehicle options, Uber offers cities low cost, flexible solutions that cater to various needs. First/last mile ride to the metro station on an uberMOTO, longer duration trips in UberHIRE or a shared ride in an uberPOOL, the aim is to reduce congestion by complementing public transit systems and eliminating the use private vehicle over time.
Shared mobility
Launched in Bengaluru in September 2015, uberPOOL is now available in Delhi Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. Today, over 25% of Uber rides are taken on uberPOOL. This has resulted in saving over 480,00,000 kms, which equals to 62 trips to the moon and back; 23,00,000 litres of fuel saved and prevented the emission of over 53,00,000 kgs of CO2, that would have otherwise required 4500 acres of forest a year to remove. Backed by technology, Uber is working towards getting more people into fewer cars and helping cities reduce congestion and pollution over time.
Innovating in India, for India and the world
India is a global priority for Uber, in terms of investment, growth as well as innovation. Uber launched Asia’s first Engineering Center in Bengaluru (Bangalore) in January 2016, a testament to Uber’s commitment to investing in India. With over 100 engineers spread across Bangalore and Hyderabad, several India-first initiatives like uberDOST, Emergency Button, Cash and Dial an Uber have also been launched in countries around the world. In 2015, Uber also set up a CoE in Hyderabad, with nearly 400 employees who focus on providing the best customer support to our riders and driver partners, including a dedicated Incident Response Team that manages critical incidents.
The future – leapfrogging car ownership
Despite very low rates of car ownership-just 18 vehicles per 1,000 people in India compared to 797 in the US, cities in India suffer from some of the worst congestion problems in the world with average speeds falling to 15 kmph and slated to reduce to 5 kmph by 2020 in major cities. Tackling alarming pollution and congestion levels requires concerted action and as responsible corporate citizens, Uber aims to be a part of the solution. Complementing government’s efforts around tackling congestion and encouraging the adoption of carpooling with the help of technology [UberPOOL], Uber is enabling several people travelling in the same direction to share a ride – essentially turning the car into a public good. There is a huge appetite for reliable, efficient and affordable ways to get to and from a particular destination, especially around commuting routes underserved by public transit.
All of this wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated service of driver partners and loyalty of our riders. To say thanks and express gratitude, Uber is giving each of the lucky 176 driver partners INR 5000 and the lucky riders Uber credits worth INR 500.
Moving forward, Uber is more focused than ever before on building features for riders & drivers that will help the company get to the next five hundred million.