Uber Shuttle: How far will the ride-hailing app’s bus service go?

This article was originally published in Rest of World, which covers technology’s impact outside the West.

Manvi Singh, a marketing executive in her early 20s, commutes over 20 kilometres to her office on the outskirts of Delhi every day. Until six months ago, this commute would take an hour and 15 minutes and include four switchovers: an auto rickshaw to the metro station, a train for half the distance, and a transfer to another line before catching another auto for the final stretch.

“Where I live, the metro is almost nine to 10 kilometres away,” she explains. “Plus, the traffic is terrible on the entire route from my house to the office.”

Lately, Singh has found a solution to this exhausting daily ordeal: Uber Shuttle, a shared bus service that allows users to book seats through the ride-hailing company’s app.

Singh now travels in an air-conditioned bus that picks her up near her house and drops her off at the office. Although the bus is only marginally cheaper and faster than her earlier commute, Singh says, it’s significantly more comfortable, less crowded, and safer.

Uber Shuttle was developed by the San Francisco-based company’s tech teams in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in 2019 as a service that complements public transportation and helps...

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