Swish on bike taxi in snarl
2 min readPatna: Ever wished to hitch a ride on a motorbike when you are helplessly stuck in a traffic snarl where four-wheelers can hardly move an inch forward?
Well, residents can now book a ride on a bike taxi service.
The service, which is quite popular in metro cities and was a booming business in Goa in the 1980s, has finally been launched in Patna.
Rapido, a Bangalore-based firm, has started the commercial bike services with a fleet of 12 two-wheelers (bikes) seven days ago and the company officials are claiming to have got good response. According to them, around 60 people have shown interest in taking rides but the bike taxi service takes only to 10-12 people per day owing to limited number of riders.
“Our bike taxi service functions just like Ola and Uber. People have to book a ride through our application, Rapido. The bike riders associated with Rapido, whom we call Captains, will pick the passenger from the given location and drop him/her at the desired destination,” said Ankit Gupta, the deputy manager of Rapido.
Those who want to become riders on the Rapido platform, need to own bikes, hold a valid driving licence and provide all documents to the company.
So how much does one have to pay to avail a ride on a Rapido bike taxi in Patna? Ankit added: “We are not charging customers for the first ride. As of now it is free. But from the second ride, we charge Rs 15 as basic fare and Rs 3 per kilometre. Residents have the option to pay both online through the application or give cash to the Rapido rider.
“Suppose if a rider is available with us from 8am to 8pm, we will pay him/her Rs 100 incentive on a daily basis. So we will cut 10 per cent of this incentive amount as part of our company’s revenue generation. However, our company’s main motto is to motivate people to associate with us as riders. The online payment which comes to us is sent to the rider in a week,” added Ankit.
Avinash Kumar (22), a rider with Rapido, said he was getting only two to three ride requests daily. Passengers looked pleased with the service. “The best part is that bikes can easily manoeuvre through narrow lanes while four-wheelers can’t,” said Kunal Verma (28), who recently availed of a ride on the bike taxi service.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
