Working women prefer bike taxi!

Traffic has been a problem for a long time in our country and especially in cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, etc. With the increasing pollution and traffic, people are opting for bike taxis and it has been noted that the usage of this taxi has been more among women in a few cities. Radhika Parashar, 25, a professional from the NCR region, took the plunge and booked a bike taxi to reach her home in Sector 77 in Noida.

The rider reached the pick-up point faster than cabs usually do, with a spare helmet and dropped her safe at her destination much earlier than a cab would have. Parashar is not the only woman hailing bike-taxi services. It is increasingly seen as the new easier to book, fastest, safest yet affordable mode of transport by women in the metros.“In Delhi-NCR, where people are so sceptical about booking cab services because of several infamous incidents, two-wheeler ride services like this works quite well in emergency situations where there is very less time margin to make it to somewhere," Parashar said.

"Since my first experience was satisfactory, I have been regularly using these services to reach in hurried situations."While in cities like Hyderabad, where traffic has been a matter of concern, there are quite a few women who are aware of these facilities. Since travelling to places have become easy and faster with the bike service, Subha Priyadarshini, a journalist, who uses a Rapido says, “I wanted an easy commute option during busy traffic days and bikes are convenient to buzz through the heaviest traffic. I came across the app when I saw Uber started bike taxi services. However, their surge charges are not economically friendly.”

Meanwhile, speaking to other young women from the city if they use the bike taxi service, they said that they do not know using bike taxi service is a safe option.When we asked Ola Bike Service Company regarding the safety measures provided for women riders the spokesperson of Ola said, “Our drivers are well verified, and we confirm their work with us once their background is checked thoroughly.

We have the emergency SOS option that helps the riders during an emergency, and we have all the safety measures taken that are required for women and others who use our bike taxi services.”About recruiting women riders for bike taxi services, Ola spokesperson said, “Diversity and inclusion have always been embedded in our ethos and is resonated by our network of one million driver partners across the country. Since inception, we have actively facilitated multiple avenues to encourage people from all walks of life to begin their entrepreneurial journey as driver-partners on the Ola platform. 

This includes a seamless on-boarding process, the flexibility to choose work timings, a 24/7 support centre, to name a few. Ola has also partnered with the Telangana Government and is committed to creating 5,000 new livelihood opportunities in the State.”With the facilities like these available for women, it seems much better to use bike taxies to reach your destination faster. 
Although not many people are aware of the services provided by taxi companies, this can be an attempt to think about reducing traffic in all the metropolitan cities. These facilities are currently available to riders in 11 cities in India – Hyderabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mohali, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Kanpur.

-With inputs from Rachel V Thomas.