Carpools boost Hyderabad mobility

Hyderabad: Carpooling among professionals is fast catching up in the city. While there were about 230 registered carpool services in 2011 in Hyderabad, the number has increased to 591 as on July 2014.

Not just intra-city, but facilities for even inter-city carpooling are rising. Hyderabadis are opting for carpooling via different media like Facebook, web services and mobile apps. Even options for ride-sharing have been on a rise, with many traveling back home to different cities during weekends.

The Facebook page of a carpool service group called the “Hyderabad Carpool”  has more than 592 members carpooling to work, whereas many other closed groups with registered members like Act Carpool, Carpooling in Hyderabad etc. have anywhere between 50-100 people each. Along with social networking websites, web-based services, including “Pool My Car”, have inter-city facilities to more than seven districts from Hyderabad. Commuteasy.com, poolmy-car.com, carpooling.in among others have hundreds of registered users who choose their routes and the available  carpools.

Carpooling mobile apps are also getting popular among software employees traveling from faraway corners of the city to Hitec City.

Apps for ride-sharing like Uber for iPhone users and Android-based GoTogether, created by Hyderabad-based entrepreneurs, are catering specially to inter-city or weekend travelers who are looking to save money. Adding to this, apps like Carpool Calculator help calculate the fuel expenses to be shared by members, depending on the distance and people.

Shirish Gone, one of the founders of the GoTogether app, said, “Currently, we are operating between Hydera-bad and Warangal. I personally came up with this idea as I am from Warangal and I was facing a major task to commute between the two cities. When a person registers for inter-city, the value proposition is more as it is more cost-effective.”

Though carpooling has been on a rise, women commuters are again left out as there are hardly any carpool services catering exclusively to women. They have called for compulsory verification of details of users along with a verified email ID, contact number, employee ID number, a government ID and also details of their vehicle and licence number. Many have also stressed on the need for compulsory authenticated registration and licensing of these carpooling services and are also asking the government to create a legal act for carpooling, considering the demand.

Citizens and service providers state that the rule must be added as a clause under the AP Motor Vehicle Act and that the upper and lower value limits must also be set.

“Going by the sudden increase in incidents of rape and molestation, it is getting scary to even travel alone in a cab, or take any form of public transport back home in late hours. If there were facilities to start or initiate separate carpools for women, then it would be much easier and safe,” said Deepika Phalke, an IT employee.