China-backed Taxi hailing service Taxify has launched Taxify Boda in Kenya, just a few weeks after unveiling the service in Kampala, Uganda where the simplest mode of transport is majorly the motorcycle taxis also known as Boda bodas.
The firm expects that the addition of motorcycle taxi hailing services will help users to choose between hailing either a car or a boda boda from the same app just like Uber’s recent addition of Uber Chap Chap which has been touted as a rip off due to overpricing of the cars used.
These also comes just weeks after the Kenya Bodaboda Association launched its own JuuBike hailing app ti increase its members revenues. Taxiy Boda will charge a minimum fare of Khs 50 per trip, a Base fare of Ksh 30 base, Ksh 15 per KM and Ksh 3 per minute. The firm says on average a driver can take up to 100 trips a day estimated to be around Ksh 1,500 in cash daily. More than half what most Motorcycle taxi owners get after paying the drivers.
Like counterparts, SafeMotos and SafeBoda and the recently launched JuuBike, its mandatory for both the driver and passenger to wear a helmet and a reflector to reduce road accidents. Taxify Boda will also help its members save and borrow through its Sacco.
At the moment, the firm is recruiting new drivers, training them on customer care, safety measures and use of the app in collaboration with the National Transport Safety Authority and Kenya Police Service. Rescue by Flare will provide medical emergency response to Taxify Boda riders through its large network of first responders, as well as driver safety training.
Chisom Anoke, Taxify Kenya Operations Manager said, “Rising use of motorcycle riders for public passenger transport is a reality that we have to live with particularly in Nairobi where traffic jams and clogged roads delay movement.”
Though Taxify is thinking to be the first in the country to launch such a service. The uptake of motorcycle taxis will not be as easy and not as huge as the firm success with the cab hailing service Taxify. Kenya’s Sendy and Maramoja ditched the boda service due to low uptake and probably because one does not need to hail boda bodas who are always mobile and affordable.
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