The concept of carpooling has been around for decades, but the advent of the internet and mobile apps could make the practice popular again, but only if such service exists. While in Europe there have been services like BlaBlaCar, countries in Asia like Malaysia have yet to see such a service, until now.
Enter Tripda. Tripda operates on the premise that there are a lot of people driving from point A to B daily, and most of the time they’re driving in an empty car. If Tripda is able to hook up folks who are driving, with those without a car but are heading in the same direction, this in effect, will create a new market while at the same time, clear up the roads a bit and reduce the carbon footprint. Passengers will also be able to save some money for the trip, and drivers will get to earn a bit of money for the transaction. It is unsure whether Tripda will get a cut of the money at this point, but it is likely to happen in the future, if not already.
Tripda is a backed by Rocket Internet, the venture incubator giant that is also behind other popular services such as FoodPanda, Lamido, Lazada, PricePanda, and Zalora. It is not like your usual ride-sharing service like Uber, that focuses on short trips in the city.
Tripda is unlike your regular ride-sharing service like Uber whose drivers are licensed and are usually under a limousine company. It is also not just limited to intracity commutes. Instead, Tripda opens up the market of surplus car seats from rides driven by you and I, and it is also targeting more towards intercity travels (KL to Singapore, for instance).
They way it works is, you’ll have to first register for a Tripda account, using your Facebook credentials (to thwart fake accounts). You can either request/search for a ride, or offer one. After that, pick your preferred route, and enjoy your ride with your driver/passenger. When the trip is over, both you and the other party get to rate and review each other, and this rating is publicly viewable by others.
Tripda was just launched back in May and focuses on “emerging markets” like ours in Malaysia. It is currently operating in 11 markets: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and the US. The service was recently being launched in Taiwan in October, and in the US just last week. The North American division is run by Adi Vaxman and Joe McFarlane, while globally, Tripda is headed by Pedro Meduna and Eduardo Prota. Meduna will be in Malaysia from November 17th until the 19th. Victor Ang is currently the Managing Director of Tripda Malaysia and Singapore.
A carpooling platform is difficult to implement in the US, causing services like Ridejoy to shut down last year, and Zimride to pivot into what’s now known as Lyft (which is more like an Uber ride-sharing service). This is partly due to how US cities are more spread out, making car ownership crucial for intercity travels. Carpooling services like BlaBlaCar in Europe is doing well though. The hope Tripda has is that because of our poor public transportation and the high number of car ownership here in Malaysia, the service may eventually take off, but then we’ll still need to put into consideration the trust factor we have for each other here, to deem the service viable.
As with any new ‘sharing economy’ service, it is only as good as the number of people participating in it. Just like how Airbnb is still steadily growing in Malaysia, There are only a handful of drivers in Tripda Malaysia. Tripda’s Malaysian Facebook Page is already up since August, but the blog, Instagram, and Twitter accounts are still barren at this point. In any case, watch these spaces, for its official entry may just be as disruptive as Uber is. One may also wonder how will the officials think about this, considering the spat that has been going on between SPAD and Uber recently.
To check out Tripda, install either its Android or iOS apps, but more importantly, visit http://www.tripda.com.my/, as it is more feature-full that the mobile apps.
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