New Whitepaper: Ridesharing and Queue Management [PDF]

The ridesharing market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world and is expected to reach 209.6 billion USD by 2026.

But, as is always the case, this rapid growth is accompanied with certain pains.

Ride-hailing companies pride themselves on delivering first-class experience to their customers. But the ones they should focus on the most are their drivers.

• How can ridesharing companies improve the experience for their drivers?
• How has COVID-19 impacted the market?
• What does queue management have to do with ridesharing?

These questions, and more, are answered in our new whitepaper — Ridesharing and Queue Management.

You can download the PDF version right now, for free.

To give you a small taste, below is an excerpt from our whitepaper.

Ridesharing and service experiences

There are many reasons why ride-hailing took the world by storm. But essentially, it could be attributed to companies following the old mother’s wisdom: “Don’t get into strangers’ cars.”

Armed with ridesharing apps, both passengers and drivers can know exactly who they’re riding with, and rate their experience accordingly.

It’s the convenience of this experience that stands behind the success of ride-hailing moguls. On 24 July 2018, Uber announced it has completed 10 billion trips worldwide, doubling the number of trips in just one year. (Source)

Overall, the ridesharing market is expected to reach 209.6 billion USD by 2026 — up from its 2020’s valuation of 73.07 billion USD. Other reports go for an even bigger number: 230 billion USD by 2026.

While the US and Europe were the original drivers (pardon the pun) of this growth, this is no longer the case.

The ridesharing boom is especially rapid in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, where inadequate public transportation coupled with the increase in population demands for affordable and efficient mobility.

Asia-Pacific alone captured a major share of the global ride-hailing market — 43.83%.

These regions became a fertile ground for new ridesharing apps, such as Ola in India, DiDi in China, Grab in Singapore, Cabify in Latin and South America, and many more.

All of these emerging on-demand ride service providers have found success that is comparable to the original transport disruptors like Uber and Lyft.

To wit, the ridesharing company 99 became Brazil’s first so-called unicorn, i.e. a startup valued at over 1 billion USD.

But success does come at a price. As the company grows, its internal issues scale up as well. They continue to rely on outdated processes that slow down their operations.

No matter the region, at the center of any ride-hailing business is its drivers. With the abundance of new apps to work as contractors for, they can pick and choose which company is more deserving of their skills.

When Qminder was first brought over to help with driver onboarding at one of key ridesharing providers, it quickly became apparent that we can help with more than just check-in and registration.

The entire support system impacts the driver experience. Every day, drivers apply for support on insurance, rental, simple enquiries, or technical maintenance.

E-hail companies want to save time and money, but the focus should be on sparing their driver applicants the hassle of solving issues.

The impact of COVID-19 on the ridership rates

Ridesharing businesses were among the first ones to feel the impact of COVID-19. As coronavirus cases spiked across the world and people were discouraged from leaving homes, companies started to lose a significant portion of their ridership.

Combined, Uber and Lyft lost $8.5 billion in 2020 alone. While the first months of 2021 are looking better, both companies are still far from profitable.

Surprisingly, the demand for trips is finally growing, but neither company has the resources to accommodate it. There is another pandemic at their hands — a driver shortage problem.

Reportedly, US-based drivers for both apps are down by 40%.

“In 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than there are drivers available to give them.” - Dennis Cinnelli, Uber’s vice president for mobility in the US and Canada. (Source)

As vaccination rates continue to go up, so does the number of potential customers. The question is, which company drivers and riders are going to take their business to?

Uber and Lyft are now announcing, among other benefits, multi-million dollar stimulus packages for drivers to incentivize their return to the apps. Once again, experience is what dictates the success of ride-hailing companies in attracting new labor.

But now that everybody has lived through the lockdown, there are more parts to that experience than simple monetary gains or convenience. People want a sense of safety that goes beyond mere platitudes.

This, too, starts at the very beginning — driver onboarding and support.

Was this informative for you? There’s more where that came from.

Ridesharing and Queue Management also covers the benefits of a queue management system at every level of operations: from driver partners to managers, to administrators and owners.

For a real-life example of a ridesharing company implementing a queuing system, this whitepaper includes a case study of ViaVan, an on-demand transportation service provider.

Whether you’re looking for a driver management solution or an industry insight, Ridesharing and Queue Management is a whitepaper you don’t want to ignore.