New app to fix passenger security and travel convenience

TECHNOLOGY

Uganda continues to grapple with a disorganised public transport sector and sometimes premeditated crime targeting passengers on roads besides the increasing and incessant traffic jam in and around the greater Kampala area.

Not all is lost though as Entrepreneur Tonny Butali and his co-founder software developer Okot Ernest launched an application that could get rid of a big part of this mess. Dubbed ‘safari share' this application is geared at promoting the culture of sharing private cars with strangers who become passengers in this case not only easing travel on the road but also creating a side income for private car owners.

Released in November 2019, the application that is making four months in use already has close to 1,000 subscribers and users under its belt.

"One of the things this application which is threatening to revolutionarise the way we travel on the road emphasises is security, as a result you need a picture of your National ID to register as a driver, a picture of your driving permit, pictures of yourself and pictures of the car you drive displaying the number plate uploaded in order to be approved as a driver on the app" Butali says.

What this does is ensure you are a licensed driver, a national with proper documentation, your car too is in good shape and can easily be traced with its picture and number on display in case of any emergencies.

To register on the app as a passenger according to Butali you need a picture of your national ID and at least two full pictures of yourself for easy identification and verification too incase of anything. "All this helps root out criminal elements and fraudsters from the system as you need all those requirements verified by our team when uploaded before you become a registered user" he says.

The application also has a panic button that can be activated in case of any emergencies and because they have taken trouble to map out all of the major roads across the country plus nearby landmarks into the system, the vehicle can easily be tracked and located through the app to provide help in conjunction with the police.

 Making money through the app  

A side hustle which is basically a non-core activity that makes one some much needed extra money is part of this app too. After signing up onto the application as a driver, you can post your planned trips daily and passengers looking at taking the same trips can choose to book a ride with you through the app.

You reserve the right to accept or reject the potential passengers and they too have the option to choose being driven by you or anybody else of their choice.  

"For a fee slightly above what you would pay for public means for trips around the city and its suburbs you will be able to hitch a ride and for longer trips upcountry you will pay about the same price you would pay in public means."

The reasons the trips within and around the city are slightly more expensive is to keep the rates competitive enough so the drivers can make a decent margin off the rides. However, the number of passengers has been limited to four per trip so as to keep this as a ‘side hustle' and not get into the territory of public transport vehicles. 

On the side of the company, we are not currently charging any fee as we continue to modify the app based on user feedback but we shall soon be charging a small commission off every trip between 5% and 10% as it picks up in popularity.

Convenience and benefits  

Unlike public transport that can only be accessed on the high way or designated stages, through safari share the driver will pick you up from the nearest possible place from where they are taking off.

You will also travel in a more comfortable environment given you will only be a maximum of 4 passengers in the vehicle.

As a driver or passenger, you will not only have the chance to choose who you travel with, you will also have the chance to review and rate them on the application, those with the worst ratings will be suspended from the app or cautioned Butali says.

Vehicle theft for those using this app will also be eliminated because it comes with a tracking system and has the whole country's major road network mapped out for easy follow up of the vehicle even remotely.

Reduction in traffic jams as more people will be able to conveniently travel in a single car.

Reduction in air pollution as there will be less vehicles moving on the road thus less emissions at any one given time

The roads will also have a longer life span as the reduction in the number of vehicles needed to get people around means less load and tare of the roads

Going forward

Tonny Butali and his business partner are looking at raising (100,000 dollars) sh.366.45 million in investment to help carry out a mass awareness drive about the app and also grow the number of users by the thousands.

They have already sank some (50,000 dollars) sh.183.222 million in the application's development to get it to where it is and are looking at adding more improvements.