According to some interesting data shared by global ride-hailing platform Uber, summers followed by early winters is a popular period when most intercity rides get booked in India. In 2022, April, May, June, October, and December were the top five months with the highest number of intercity trips booked during weekends, in no set order.
Likewise, weekends are the most popular days to book intercity rides as Saturdays and Sundays become reasonably preferred for holidays or short trips. Saturday, Sunday, and Friday in decreasing order were the top three days of the week with the highest number of Under intercity rides booked in 2022.
All things mobility and travel
Uber’s intercity trip feature has been on an expansion drive ever since it was introduced and is now available across over 2,000 routes in the country, covering all of the most-frequented destinations, said an Uber official in response to queries from ETTravelWorld.
“We continue to expand the product across the length and breadth of the country, looking at the high demand it has had, especially during the holiday seasons,” said Shweta Mantri, Head of New Mobility – India South Asia, Uber.
Talking about Uber’s idea and vision for connected trips and travellers planning intercity road trips, Mantri said the rationale is to be a one-stop app for all things mobility and travel.
“We want people to Uber it whether they are travelling within the city or outside, for a day trip or multi-day outstation trip – and we are building to serve all these needs. The user seeks a simplified booking experience – be it for travel within minutes or many days in advance and we have introduced a slew of new products and features to help with precisely that,” she said.
Looking at the most popular getaways to travel via Uber intercity, prominent tourist hotspots and destinations close to metro cities receive the most demand. The top weekend getaways around major cities, going by intercity trips booked in 2022, are Pune, Nashik, and Lonavala from Mumbai.
From Bengaluru, popular intercity ride destinations are Bannerghatta Biological Park, Mysore, and Nandi Hills. From Delhi, it’s Meerut, Sonipat and Rewari, whereas, from Chennai, Uber users prefer trips to Thrivallur, Vellore and Puducherry.
Product for planned travel
Heading out on a holiday needs planning in advance, so Uber’s first product for planned travel, Uber Reserve, offers riders the freedom to book their rides, including intercity, up to 90 days in advance, giving them the assurance of having their mobility needs looked after. These features, clubbed with Uber Intercity, offer a seamless and connected travel experience to today’s savvy travellers.
Explaining about the new feature, Mantri said, “We have also introduced a new feature where riders can get a prompt from Uber to reserve a ride to the airport as soon as they book their flights, saving them the hassle of figuring their last mile travel at the last moment.”
As temperatures approach record highs in the city, people seeking a cab at the central station have reported having to wait well over an hour in scorching sunlight, while taxi ranks dotted across the city often lie deserted. But the massive influx of tourists, coupled with the heatwave, has turned a problem into crisis and raises doubts about Italy’s ability to cope with ever bigger crowds forecast by the tourism ministry in the coming years.
The most popular getaways from Hyderabad on Uber intercity are Medchal, Mehbubnagar and Warangal, while from Kolkata and Jaipur, Hooghly, Basirhat, Nadia and Delhi, Chomu remain popular hotspots, respectively.
Residents of Ahmedabad like visiting Vadodara, Kheda and Anand on Uber intercity, while Patiala, Ludhiana and Solan are hit among Chandigarh citizens. From Coimbatore, Covai and Pallakkad are the most booked destinations on Uber intercity.
The green initiative
Earlier this year, Uber announced the launch of Uber Green in India to boost its sustainability efforts. Uber Green, the company’s flagship electric vehicle on-demand service is also a big swing towards Uber’s commitment to have zero tailpipe emissions on its platform by 2040. The product offers a fleet of new, clean EVs to riders in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR for their mobility needs while also helping reduce vehicular emissions and making cities more liveable.
On whether Uber Green will be used for intercity rides, Mantri said that deploying electric vehicles over long-distance, intercity rides requires supporting infrastructure along the routes, which is still very nascent in India.
“We are working with industry leaders in EV manufacturing, charging infrastructure, and vehicle financing to make sustainable mobility options available to people across more cities in the country. As and when these infrastructure needs are met, we will make available our sustainable mobility products for long-distance routes as well,” she added.
Consistent uptick in demand
Presenting Uber’s outlook on rising tourism in the country and demand for personalised travel experiences, Mantri said, there has been a consistent uptick in the number of Uber Intercity trips, leading the company to add multiple new routes and booking options to meet the ever-growing demand.
“We have witnessed over the past 18 months a strong resurgence of travel, particularly outside the confines of cities. This summer saw record tourism numbers as travellers headed out to their favourite destinations to unwind. If anything, we only see this as the start of a trend, as people across the world indulge in more weekend getaways and easy-to-plan road trips to explore new places with just a few taps on the app,” she explained.
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