Metro riders can now opt for hassle-free travel in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: People who are travelling to or from areas within five km of the Parade Ground or Raidurg Metro Rail stations, can enjoy hassle-free multimodal transport using the mobility platform MetroRide.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Girish Nagpal, chief executive officer of MetroRide, said the Bengaluru-based AI-based mobility platform was selected by Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd, L&T Metro Hyderabad Ltd, Shell Foundation and World Resources Institute (WRI) India to provide a seamless travel experience to the commuters of Hyderabad Metro.

"MetroRide provides first-mile and last-mile connectivity to the Metro Rail riders, wherein an electric autorickshaw — shared travel — will pick them up from a common spot and drop them at the Metro station. From their preferred destination (Metro station), another electric vehicle will pick them up to drop them at their final destination," Nagpal explained.

The travel, he said, will happen seamlessly and the Metro rider will just make one transaction on the MetroRide app, which will include the fare of the autorickshaw at the end of the travel and also the Metro Rail fare.

Currently, he said, the services are available only at the two stations. In the next few months, the service will be available at six stations and will cover all stations on the network within two years.

Differentiating his platform from other hail-ride taxis, Nagpal said MetroRide is only for short rides and its autorickshaws cannot ply beyond a five-km radius from a particular station.

"We cater to only these zones. Our focus is on daily commuters. Based on their destinations, we create our routes. So that people can commute in the safest and cheapest way," Nagpal said.

"There is enough research which shows that metro commuters — almost 80 per cent of them — stay within a five km radius," he said. The company offers similar services in Bengaluru and Gurgaon.