Post Covid-19: Shared mobility services to undergo changes

Shared mobility services, who were gaining traction in the city, will now take precautionary measures and adopt changes post-Covid world.

Shared mobility services, who were gaining traction in the city, will now take precautionary measures and adopt changes post-Covid world.

HT Image

Shuttl, a startup that runs an app-based bus aggregator service said that in order to adhere to social distancing norms, they have started numbering the seats in the buses.

“Earlier, you could occupy any seat, but to ensure there is no proximity, we will provide seat numbers to commuters before-hand,” said Vishwas Singh, vice-president, Shuttl in a webinar organised by the World Resources Institute on new responses to Covid-19 lockdown, on Thursday.

Yulu bikes, an e-bike service will continue its new model of Yulu Prive developed during the lockdown. Unlike shared mobility, the new model allows its customers to keep the bike with them for 15-90 days, in order to avoid sanitation issues. “We will regularly undertake sanitation of all bikes. The app will also show commuters when was the bike last sanitised before they choose to use it,” said Rajat Rawat, senior lead for government and corporate relations, Yulu.

The micro-mobility services are active in delivering essentials during the lockdown period, Rawat said.

The participants also stressed the need for government regulations on the operation of transport and not look at new mobility services at par with traditional services. Chand Tulal Mazumdar, public policy- India and South Asia, Uber said, “We have started a new vertical to look at the future of mobility. We will continue to look at tech-based solutions to provide safer travel.” She also said that the company’s UberPool services were suspended before the lockdown to ensure commuters’ safety.

While there have been talks on people shifting to personal transport in the post-Covid-19 world for safer travel, the panellists said that there will be a section that won’t have the wherewithal to do that. “People will be left with lesser disposable income at hand post the pandemic. There will be a segment, which will need safer public transport services,” Singh said.