Companies

Little Ride follows Uber with Mombasa launch

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Little Ride is currently available in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE

Safaricom-backed taxi hailing app Little Ride has launched services in Mombasa nearly four months after its Nairobi debut.

The Little Ride application, developed by local IT firm Craft Silicon, was unveiled in Nairobi in July.

The company’s main rival, Uber, expanded to Mombasa in March this year and later to Thika in June.

The app has registered 100 drivers in Mombasa so far. Its tariffs in the coastal city are similar to those in Nairobi. Little Ride, which says it facilitates about 3,500 journeys daily, charges passengers Sh55 per kilometre and Sh4 per minute — with no flat base charge or price surges.

“We are still very new, but the response from customers is good,” said Kamal Budhabhatti, CEO of Craft Silicon. Uber’s fare in Mombasa is Sh50 per kilometre, Sh5 per minute spent in journey, and a base charge of Sh80.

Uber in July slashed Nairobi prices by a third, cutting the app’s per kilometre cost to Sh35 from Sh60, and lowering per minute transit charges by Sh1 to Sh3, but left base charge intact at Sh100.

The San Francisco-based e-hailing giant also applies price surges, where Uber hikes rates by a multiple, say 1.5 times, in the event that demand cannot be met by the number of cabs in service. 

READ: Safaricom’s Little Cab triggers price war with Uber

Uber is Kenya’s biggest taxi firm with more than 1,000 drivers recording about 10,000 journeys every day.
State-owned Kenya National Taxi Corporation is currently piloting an app in Nairobi, due to be launched end of October, to challenge Uber’s dominance and take a bite of the retail cab market.
The e-hailing service is currently available in Nairobi and will buy year end be unveiled in Mombasa and Kisumu where Kenatco runs, the firm said.
Other major taxi apps are only available in Nairobi. They include:  Taxify, Mondo Ride, Safaricom-backed Sendy, Maramoja, and Dandia.
“Another interesting option we have added in our software is that if you take a Little in Nairobi to the airport (travelling to Mombasa), then in Mombasa from airport to town you get Sh500 off,” said Mr Budhabhatti.