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Hail the New Auto
Vehicles of Peace Auto, Bangalore, queue up.
With polite drivers, autos on call and GPS-enabled trip meters, the autorickshaw is getting a makeover in Chennai and Bangalore.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gouri Shankar prides himself on driving the shortest possible route through the maze-like streets of Bangalore. “Here, let me show you,” he says, after we hop into his autorickshaw one recent afternoon. He whips out his Android smartphone from its mount on the windshield, points to three options to Malleshwaram from central Bangalore and assures us that he will pick the shortest — at 7.2 km.
Thousands of commuters in the city, still sore from being over-charged, turned down or cheated, are in for a pleasant surprise. Driving this change is a simple happiness meter. Until a few months ago, Shankar admits, he often used his navigational skills to rip off unsuspecting commuters. But when the auto tariff was last hiked in December to Rs 13 per km, he started losing customers to cab companies. To haul himself — and the reputation of the autowalla in Bangalore — out of this hole, Shankar seized upon the idea of a makeover. “I realised that when I was good to a customer, he/she too would be nice to me,” he says, gently reminding us to rate him on Happy Auto, an Android app for rating auto drivers that was launched with much fanfare in December last year by the Bangalore Traffic Police. Called Sugama Savari, the initiative crowdsources feedback from commuters on five parameters — the driver’s willingness to ply, his behaviour, charging by the meter, abiding by traffic rules and taking the best route. The feedback, collected across platforms — mobile app, Web and SMS — is then collated to generate a rating on a scale of one to 10. Auto drivers who consistently score eight or more are rewarded with a “Sugama Savari” sticker to display on their vehicle.
MA Parthasarathy, a retired IT professional who came up with the concept of Sugama Savari over six months ago, realised that while people were always complaining about auto drivers, there was no system to reward good behaviour.
Parthasarathy now works closely with the traffic police to motivate drivers to behave better. His Android app has seen over 2,000 downloads. “We have received feedback from 600-plus commuters so far. Over 40 per cent of it is good,” he says.
Until recently, Chennai had two types of autorickshaws — the ones that didn’t run by meter and the ones that didn’t run. Fares were charged arbitrarily, radio cabs were gaining ground and spiralling fuel prices made it increasingly unviable for the few honest auto drivers in the city to ride along looking for pickups. Autos, in effect, had started to look like railway porters in the age of strolley bags. But in August last year, the Tamil Nadu government stepped in decisively to revise the fare structure after chairing a tripartite meeting with the unions and passengers, and then made digital meters mandatory. This spawned a wave of ventures run
Hail the New Auto | The Indian Express
Also please read
Starting Thursday, city residents will be able to hail an autorickshaw with their mobile phones.
By simply sending a text message, passengers will now be picked up from their doorsteps, at an additional cost of just Rs. 10 above the meter fare. The service will be available 24x7.
Nearly 1,000 autorickshaws belonging to the All-India Trade Union Congress and other unions will be part of the ‘SMS an auto’ service.
Those who wish to avail the service can send an SMS to 9944733111, with the pincode of their locality and the name of the area they wish to travel to. “For example, if you are in Anna Salai and wish to travel to T. Nagar, your SMS should read ‘600002 space T. Nagar’.
Within 15 seconds, the commuter will get an SMS with the contact numbers of autorickshaw drivers in the locality.
“The commuter can then call the driver directly. After reaching her/his destination, the passenger can pay as per meter and give an additional Rs. 10 as service charge,” he says.
Passengers will not have to bargain with the drivers or wait for an autorickshaw in the sun,” says K. Navaneethan, a technology partner for the SMS facility.
The autorickshaw driver too will have to send an SMS to indicate his availability. “All the drivers are verified by us,” says Mr. Navaneethan.
The facility will also ensure autorickshaws do not ply empty.
“After dropping off a passenger, the driver needs to message us a particular code, so we know his location. His contact number will then be given to other commuters in the area,” says J. Seshasayanam, secretary of Madras Metro Auto Drivers’ Association, affiliated to AITUC.
Though commuters are happy, they are unsure about how well the service will function.
“It is helpful for senior citizens, of course. But the number of autorickshaws engaged in the service does not seem like much,” says M. Seshadri, a resident of Adyar.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...art-on-april-10-in-chennai/article5884180.ece
Vehicles of Peace Auto, Bangalore, queue up.
With polite drivers, autos on call and GPS-enabled trip meters, the autorickshaw is getting a makeover in Chennai and Bangalore.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gouri Shankar prides himself on driving the shortest possible route through the maze-like streets of Bangalore. “Here, let me show you,” he says, after we hop into his autorickshaw one recent afternoon. He whips out his Android smartphone from its mount on the windshield, points to three options to Malleshwaram from central Bangalore and assures us that he will pick the shortest — at 7.2 km.
Thousands of commuters in the city, still sore from being over-charged, turned down or cheated, are in for a pleasant surprise. Driving this change is a simple happiness meter. Until a few months ago, Shankar admits, he often used his navigational skills to rip off unsuspecting commuters. But when the auto tariff was last hiked in December to Rs 13 per km, he started losing customers to cab companies. To haul himself — and the reputation of the autowalla in Bangalore — out of this hole, Shankar seized upon the idea of a makeover. “I realised that when I was good to a customer, he/she too would be nice to me,” he says, gently reminding us to rate him on Happy Auto, an Android app for rating auto drivers that was launched with much fanfare in December last year by the Bangalore Traffic Police. Called Sugama Savari, the initiative crowdsources feedback from commuters on five parameters — the driver’s willingness to ply, his behaviour, charging by the meter, abiding by traffic rules and taking the best route. The feedback, collected across platforms — mobile app, Web and SMS — is then collated to generate a rating on a scale of one to 10. Auto drivers who consistently score eight or more are rewarded with a “Sugama Savari” sticker to display on their vehicle.
MA Parthasarathy, a retired IT professional who came up with the concept of Sugama Savari over six months ago, realised that while people were always complaining about auto drivers, there was no system to reward good behaviour.
Parthasarathy now works closely with the traffic police to motivate drivers to behave better. His Android app has seen over 2,000 downloads. “We have received feedback from 600-plus commuters so far. Over 40 per cent of it is good,” he says.
Until recently, Chennai had two types of autorickshaws — the ones that didn’t run by meter and the ones that didn’t run. Fares were charged arbitrarily, radio cabs were gaining ground and spiralling fuel prices made it increasingly unviable for the few honest auto drivers in the city to ride along looking for pickups. Autos, in effect, had started to look like railway porters in the age of strolley bags. But in August last year, the Tamil Nadu government stepped in decisively to revise the fare structure after chairing a tripartite meeting with the unions and passengers, and then made digital meters mandatory. This spawned a wave of ventures run
Hail the New Auto | The Indian Express
Also please read
Starting Thursday, city residents will be able to hail an autorickshaw with their mobile phones.
By simply sending a text message, passengers will now be picked up from their doorsteps, at an additional cost of just Rs. 10 above the meter fare. The service will be available 24x7.
Nearly 1,000 autorickshaws belonging to the All-India Trade Union Congress and other unions will be part of the ‘SMS an auto’ service.
Those who wish to avail the service can send an SMS to 9944733111, with the pincode of their locality and the name of the area they wish to travel to. “For example, if you are in Anna Salai and wish to travel to T. Nagar, your SMS should read ‘600002 space T. Nagar’.
Within 15 seconds, the commuter will get an SMS with the contact numbers of autorickshaw drivers in the locality.
“The commuter can then call the driver directly. After reaching her/his destination, the passenger can pay as per meter and give an additional Rs. 10 as service charge,” he says.
Passengers will not have to bargain with the drivers or wait for an autorickshaw in the sun,” says K. Navaneethan, a technology partner for the SMS facility.
The autorickshaw driver too will have to send an SMS to indicate his availability. “All the drivers are verified by us,” says Mr. Navaneethan.
The facility will also ensure autorickshaws do not ply empty.
“After dropping off a passenger, the driver needs to message us a particular code, so we know his location. His contact number will then be given to other commuters in the area,” says J. Seshasayanam, secretary of Madras Metro Auto Drivers’ Association, affiliated to AITUC.
Though commuters are happy, they are unsure about how well the service will function.
“It is helpful for senior citizens, of course. But the number of autorickshaws engaged in the service does not seem like much,” says M. Seshadri, a resident of Adyar.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...art-on-april-10-in-chennai/article5884180.ece
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