There is potential for disruption in mainstream transport modes

A report by RedSeer Consulting, a research and advisory firm, shows that in spite of the strong growth in the online taxi aggregation market, barely two per cent of all local public transport trips in metro cities (exclude metro and commuter rail) are booked online. The most commonly used transport modes such as autos and buses are booked 99 per cent offline owing to high convenience and availability of offline modes. Only the local point-to-point cabs market has shown signs of strong online disruption with more than 35-40 per cent of trips booked online. Thus, there is a tremendous potential for online disruption in the bus and auto space, something which start-ups like Zipgo and Jugnoo have tried to capitalise on and bigger players like Ola (Ola Shuttle) and Uber have also realised.

 
However, direct online disruption of these mass transport modes may be a slow process owing to strong competition from offline. Rather, disruption should happen by offering substitute transport modes at a similar price point. Anil Kumar, CEO, RedSeer Consulting, said, “Companies need to still figure out innovate ways to disrupt the mainstream transport modes like buses and autos.”