Came back from Bengaluru couple of days back and while way back home, my thoughts wondered around how convenient and ubiquitous it has become for getting around in Mumbai with Ola/Uber.
Just a few years back, we used to be literally 'handicapped' due to various reasons related to getting a taxi.
My childhood days were spent in south of Mumbai, so auto-rickshaw appeared in life quite late.
Family travels always used to be in a taxi. There would be few spots where the taxis would wait, else simplest way of getting a taxi was to just wave your hand at passing by.
When moved to suburbs, auto rickshaws became defacto for every day commute.
Later I moved to Navi Mumbai and realized that rickshaw is not going to help me easily while commuting between office in Mumbai and home. As Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are different 'territories' for rickshaws and like inter-border rules between 2 countries, rickshaws from either side will not cross their laksman-rekhas.
But at the same time, catching taxi for daily commute was still a high fare affair.
So to avoid big holes in the pocket, we used to do break journey of rickshaw.
However after few months, I started getting backache and breathing problems caused by pollution due to frequent rickshaw travels.
Around the same time, somehow Ola entered in my phone and eventually daily life.
Even after having app handy, had not used it for quite a few months, just on the account of unawareness or may be lack of business case to use it.
Then my travel pattern changed again and had to travel to a place where getting a rickshaw was a daily war.
Not just the limited availability but also illogical fare rules defined by the rickshaw-walas on their own.
Then for the first time, I started experimenting Ola and then eventually Uber.
Slowly got the knack of using it fluently incl variations like micro/mini and even shared.
And in no time, these taxis really blessed me and many more like me who do not wish/want/afraid/bored to drive their own vehicles. They have truly enables us to be absolutely independent on travel front.
Taxis certainly make a big hole in the pocket, but when time is of more essence, we are bound to take these services rather than choosing for bus/train.
Commuting to and fro airport/train terminals has become so convenient, no need to bother anyone to drop / pick up or to remember to book Meru/Tabcab in advance.
No worry of not getting a taxi after stepping out of house.
No worry of going to unknown or less familiar places and of getting mis-routed.
With the facility of linking these apps to e-wallets, no worry of even carrying cash and chhutte paise.
No worry of waiting on road for spotting taxi or required bus or empty rickshaw.
And not just in Mumbai, in fact these taxis help the most outside Mumbai in other cities, where there are high chances of getting ripped by local taxi/rickshaw fares.
Ofcourse, the picture is not always so rosy. Got some frustrating experiences as well especially with shared or pool types, very high fares during peak times etc.
But still looking at enormous advantages, few small huddles can certainly be discounted.
In a short while, Ola/Uber have become my best travel buddies and hope they remain good for me as well as for all their happy customers in long run.
Just a few years back, we used to be literally 'handicapped' due to various reasons related to getting a taxi.
My childhood days were spent in south of Mumbai, so auto-rickshaw appeared in life quite late.
Family travels always used to be in a taxi. There would be few spots where the taxis would wait, else simplest way of getting a taxi was to just wave your hand at passing by.
When moved to suburbs, auto rickshaws became defacto for every day commute.
Later I moved to Navi Mumbai and realized that rickshaw is not going to help me easily while commuting between office in Mumbai and home. As Mumbai and Navi Mumbai are different 'territories' for rickshaws and like inter-border rules between 2 countries, rickshaws from either side will not cross their laksman-rekhas.
But at the same time, catching taxi for daily commute was still a high fare affair.
So to avoid big holes in the pocket, we used to do break journey of rickshaw.
However after few months, I started getting backache and breathing problems caused by pollution due to frequent rickshaw travels.
Around the same time, somehow Ola entered in my phone and eventually daily life.
Even after having app handy, had not used it for quite a few months, just on the account of unawareness or may be lack of business case to use it.
Then my travel pattern changed again and had to travel to a place where getting a rickshaw was a daily war.
Not just the limited availability but also illogical fare rules defined by the rickshaw-walas on their own.
Then for the first time, I started experimenting Ola and then eventually Uber.
Slowly got the knack of using it fluently incl variations like micro/mini and even shared.
And in no time, these taxis really blessed me and many more like me who do not wish/want/afraid/bored to drive their own vehicles. They have truly enables us to be absolutely independent on travel front.
Taxis certainly make a big hole in the pocket, but when time is of more essence, we are bound to take these services rather than choosing for bus/train.
Commuting to and fro airport/train terminals has become so convenient, no need to bother anyone to drop / pick up or to remember to book Meru/Tabcab in advance.
No worry of not getting a taxi after stepping out of house.
No worry of going to unknown or less familiar places and of getting mis-routed.
With the facility of linking these apps to e-wallets, no worry of even carrying cash and chhutte paise.
No worry of waiting on road for spotting taxi or required bus or empty rickshaw.
And not just in Mumbai, in fact these taxis help the most outside Mumbai in other cities, where there are high chances of getting ripped by local taxi/rickshaw fares.
Ofcourse, the picture is not always so rosy. Got some frustrating experiences as well especially with shared or pool types, very high fares during peak times etc.
But still looking at enormous advantages, few small huddles can certainly be discounted.
In a short while, Ola/Uber have become my best travel buddies and hope they remain good for me as well as for all their happy customers in long run.
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