Page 29 - october issue magazine
P. 29
Transport
Bye-bye to traffic
Uber customers will enjoy bottleneck
chopper rides thanks to
a partnership between Uber launched its By Mathew Ndeti   27
the Taxi-hailing app and affordable taxi services in
a Nairobi based helicopter charter Nairobi in January 2015. Helicopters for the trip. Just
service, Corporate Helicopters. The services have so as they did when they first
far spread to Mombasa launched Uber cabs in Kenya,
The ride, dubbed and Thika. In June, the UberChopper worked with
UberChopper, came two months company slashed their media and entertainment
after Uber waged a price war prices by 35 per cent just personalities to hype up the
against its competitors in Kenya as Safaricom launched its chopper service.
by reducing their fare price. This own online taxi-hailing
saw drivers boycott the company app, Little Cab. Uber lucky customers
following the move. The chopper were given a free 20 minutes
services will be available in passengers Sh55 per kilometre helicopter ride on September
Mombasa and Nairobi. and Sh4 per minute with no flat 4th, they flew across the
base charge. beautiful Rift Valley and the
This latest move targets high- breathtaking coastline of
class corporate clients who need Uber charges in Kenya are Mombasa.
to move across Kenya without priced at Sh60 for every kilometre
the hassle of having to beat the covered and Sh4 per minute in UberChopper has used
Nairobi and Mombasa traffic. addition to a base fare of Sh100. the same strategy to launch
in several cities from last year
Uber launched its affordable The San Francisco-based including San Francisco, Los
taxi services in Nairobi in January taxi e-hailing giant also has price Angeles, Melbourne, Bangkok,
2015. The services have so far surges, where it increases rates Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro,
spread to Mombasa and Thika. by a multiple, say 1.5 times, in the Lisbon, Shanghai and Cape
In June, the company slashed event that demand cannot be met Town.
their prices by 35 per cent just as by the number of cabs in service.
Safaricom launched its own online The hail-a- chopper service
taxi-hailing app, Little Cab. In a statement on August has focused on airlifting
31, Wednesday on social customers to events within
This sparked off a price war, media platforms, Uber said it cities. This is in line to beat
with rivals Little Cab and Mondo had partnered with Corporate other competitors and get more
Ride setting lower tariffs compared customers. Uber broke ground
to their global competitor. Little with its fleet of self-driving
Cab, developed by local IT taxis in United States, allowing
firm Craft Silicon, is charging everyday commuters to ride the
cars.
