Lagos based shared mobility company, Shuttlers, has launched a new scheduled door to door car service known as Shuttlers Pod, as it seeks to provide commuters with a more affordable and predictable alternative for travelling across the city. The service is designed for people travelling to work, events and other destinations who prefer to plan their journeys in advance rather than rely on conventional on demand ride hailing services.
Under the new service, three to four commuters travelling along similar routes are grouped into one scheduled trip, with each passenger picked up from their doorstep and dropped at their specific destination. Customers can also choose to book an entire vehicle privately. Shuttlers said each trip comes with a named driver, a fixed fare and a guaranteed pickup, eliminating surge pricing and the need for roadside fare negotiations.
The company said the Pod service applies its existing shared transport model to smaller vehicles, with shared trips costing roughly 50 per cent less than typical ride hailing fares. The launch comes shortly after Uber ended its 12 year operations in Nigeria, creating fresh competition among mobility companies seeking to serve commuters affected by the change in the country’s ride hailing market.
Shuttlers Chief Executive Officer and Co Founder, Damilola Olokesusi, said rising living costs had made affordable shared mobility increasingly important to Nigerians. She said the company was extending its experience in scheduled transport to provide safe, comfortable and affordable journeys from customers’ doorsteps to their destinations. Shuttlers, which began operations in 2016, said it has completed more than 10 million journeys and currently operates more than 430 buses daily across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.