Are you someone who uses the railways to get to work, especially if your job is not too close to home? That might be somewhat sound, considering how railways might not have the traffic congestion of roads, while being considerably cheaper, as well. But, how do you get to the railways? And once you alight from the train to get to office, what’s the mode of transportation? Some may go the bus route, when taxis and autos refuse to go short distances or charge higher prices. But, even then, waiting times are the issue.
That may be where the bike taxi, as a service, could come in handy for those short distances. But, as a woman using one of those, would it raise your eyebrow if you have to hold onto a man you’ve never met on a bike? Because, the odds are: your driver is, most likely, male. So, how can this be solved? Could it be that gender-specific innovation has been sporadic in India? Is now the time to change all of that?
In a place, like Bengaluru, bike taxi regulation seems to be a bit chaotic and rocky.
But, even then, in December 2024, Uber was said to have announced a pilot programme that might create a bit more safety for women with an initiative called “Moto Women”, which would be a two-wheeler ride service connecting female riders with female drivers. According to Uber’s announcement, around 70% of bike taxi trips cater to first- and last-mile connectivity, which means a starting point to a public transportation hub and from the public transportation hub to the end destination respectively.
So, something like this wouldn’t replace public transport, just complement it.
The demand for these bike taxis certainly seems to be there. It’s said that 2022 alone had as much as 280 million rides with 2 million trips in India within a single year for one aggregator. Factor in the need for women’s safety and the picture becomes a little less fuzzy as to the need for Moto Women. There are said to be trip details that could be shared with up to 5 trusted contacts for live-tracking, while a safety feature could monitor unusual patterns, like route deviations or long stops.
While the rollout is currently in Bengaluru, there are plans for this to get to places, like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. So, this seems to be the woman’s version of the service; while the Uber Moto feature would be available 24*7, Moto Woman would be available from 0730 hrs to 2030 hrs.
Furthermore, this might also provide female drivers with a bit more flexible earning opportunities. Female gig workers might still be a bit underrepresented in India. When was the last time you saw a female Uber driver or Amazon or Zomato delivery partner? There might exist some, but enough that many have come across.
Plus, both the rider and the driver would be able to access a 24/7 safety helpline. Though, if you’re clutching onto someone for dear life navigating the streets of Bengaluru, it might be hard to grab your phone and call someone.
Could something like this also encourage niche ride-hailing options for a group, like differently-abled users? Something similar to this is already in the works focused on children.
Socially, the time may be right, would the “legally” be an issue? This is said to be happening at an interesting time, when bike taxi vehicles are being seized, while being seen as competition to auto drivers and taxis. But, maybe, there’s some temporary relief until there’s a fixed regulatory framework to sort this out.
And what could this mean for commission rates? Would there be a women-centric pricing model to incentivize more female gig workers to join Moto Women? For companies looking to bring in more female gig workers, could some startup come in to focus on creating portable devices for safety for these gig workers? Uber has something going on for them, but it might be something they developed for themselves.
According to KPMG, the bike-taxi industry has the potential to generate up to 5.4 million jobs by 2030. And Uber outlines that ride-hailing apps could increase the female workforce by around 5% in India’s top 5 cities by 2028.
If bike taxi regulation would prohibit this kind of service in cities, like Bengaluru, is this regulation minimizing innovation? Is this one step forward, two steps back? Will Uber say Ola to this programme or would they have to say adiós?
