If you live in a big city, chances are you get stuck in traffic quite often. For the most part, people whine about it on social networks. But for Frenchman Benjamin de Terssac, Co-Founder and CEO of Carpool Arabia, he came up with a solution instead.
“While commuting every day from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, I made a few observations,” he told Wamda . “Firstly, most of the cars were occupied by a single person: the driver. And due to traffic congestion, it took me around two hours to reach the office [in non-rush hour traffic, the same journey would take around an hour and 10 minutes]. Other people at my workplace were also facing the same issue.”
In a country where petrol prices are among the lowest globally, and where relying on taxis for commuting isn’t the wisest decision financially, it is expected to see a continuous increase in the number of licensed cars across the United Arab Emirates.
According to the country’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), there are approximately 541 cars owned per 1,000 people in Dubai alone, a figure which exceeds that of New York (444 cars per 1,000 residents), London (345 per 1,000 residents) and Singapore (111 per 1,000 residents).
At the same time that the state authorities are striving to present solutions to ease the traffic congestion, de Terssac, with Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Guillaume Arnaud, introduced the website Carpool Arabia to help solve a problem they have personally suffered from.
Carpool Arabia acts as a portal where drivers and passengers can register their routes to share both the ride and the expenses.
The expenses shared are not intended for making a profit, but rather to cover gas and maintenance costs. The cost is decided when the driver registers a route, and payment is made directly to the driver at the time of the ride and in cash, with no intervention from the website.
Yet before you start registering on this quite convenient platform, it is mandatory that you register with the RTA beforehand through their website, Sharekni, which sets guidelines and rules for carpooling in Dubai.
The site’s main purpose is to avoid what Dubai Police call passenger smuggling, or charging people for rides. Breaches can cost up to $1,080 in fines.
“This is an unregulated website promoting carpooling within Dubai,” said a representative from the RTA. “Users are still required to get an RTA license to travel in order to affiliate with RTA’s requirement.”
“We urge users to register on Sharekni but if you carpool with family, coworkers and friends, or people from your community, then you don’t have to register,” said de Terssac.
For safety’s sake, and comfort as well, the website team advise that before sharing a ride, users should try to get to know one another. Unless users are fully comfortable, they are not obliged to accept sharing a ride with all user requests.
And to address another safety concern which would have to do with the ladies, a ladies-only option is available to ensure that all women are safe comfortable using Carpool Arabia. Furthermore, drivers using Carpool Arabia must possess valid auto insurance that covers all passengers.
Since the official launch of the website in February 2014, the start up has shown very promising growth rates. “Carpool Arabia has the largest carpooling community in the UAE. Every day we offer more than 300 rides across the country. When users come to our portal, they are likely finding the ride they need,” explains de Terssac.
At the time being, the team is looking forward to expanding into mobile and to provide online payment solutions. To finance the expansion, Carpool Arabia has its hopes pending on crowdfunding.
“We are now looking for an external investment of $250,000 in order to go mobile, develop our marketing plan, attract and retain the best talent in the team, and prepare our online payment gateway,” says de Terssac, adding: “We started a crowd investment campaign on Eureeca, and we have already received $72,000 – which is 57% of our target.”
So, if you’re live in Dubai, or commute to and from the emirate, make sure you give Carpool Arabia a look. Even if you’re not going to fully rely on it, you can always make do with one day free of driving and road stress.