Ola brings new shuttle service to Bangalore, Gurgaon

Ola has launched a new shuttle service to complement and expand on its taxi offering, with rides costing under USD 1.

According to the TechCrunch, Ola Shuttle will be unveiled officially today. At the start, the service will be available in Bangalore and Gurgaon, when it starts on September 21 with 500 shuttles covering 100 routes. More cities will be announced in the next quarter.

Sundeep Sahni, VP of New Initiatives at Ola, says the shuttle service will target commuters who might otherwise opt for taking their own cars, bikes or auto-rickshaws.

Rides will cost less than USD 1, which equals Rs. 66 compared to the average USD 4- USD 6 price of a ride in a private taxi.

The users will have to share with between 12 and 20 other people. The shuttles will come with air conditioning, WiFi access and in-vehicle entertainment.

Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola, says that millions of Indians undertake their daily commute in our cities using their own vehicles, cabs or other modes of personal transportation.

"With Shuttle, they intend to create a comfortable and reliable commute experience for them at the tap of a button on their smartphones. This will bring in efficiencies at scale, for suppliers who will work with us and will help enable mobility for a billion people," he adds.

The shuttles will be either sole-traders with their own vehicles or limited fleets from outfits significantly smaller than Ola that will link into Ola's app to find passengers.

The users will be able to track shuttles on the map, book their seats and pay for the ride using the app.