In a country where the average Mumbai commuter loses 2 days of his life per month commuting in Mumbai.

and 40%
of the population is estimated to live in 2.5% of land area the need for finding a solution to the mobility and congestion
problems, especially in the metros is very important.
Research objective and methodology
The research has been conceptualized with the purpose of understanding the efficiency of the existing transport
system in India and also the desired future state and factors inhibiting people from going to the desired state. The
research proceeds by understanding the current woes and whether they can be addressed through sharing and if so
how.
For this purpose, the target sample size were categorized into normal commuters, radio cab drivers and metered taxi
drivers and interviews were conducted with 40 normal commuters,15 radio and 20 taxi drivers and an online survey of
80 people was taken to understand consumer preference in various cities in India
Insights from research
The research revealed that the challenges the various stakeholders were facing as well as the need gap of consumers
in various mobility options. For the normal commuters: Lack of Comfort, Convenience, Information and Reliability were
the main challenges faced with about 58% of the surveyed respondents citing the crowded transport and stands as
their primary grievance. For the radio cab drivers, even though most of them consider the upside made in Radio cabs
adequate, they felt the poor utilization of the long working hours as the main challenge with 74% citing this as their
primary grievance. For the metered taxi drivers, the lack of business and information about the ride were the main
challenges, with stand issues also featuring in the top three. The following info graphics obtained from the online
survey of 80 consumers show the need gap faced by consumers in various modes of transport.

Comfort, Information and Convenience show the biggest gaps between current state and desired state in mass
transport while cost and reliability are the ones showing the most gap between current and desired state for metered
taxis. Similarly for the radio cabs, cost and reliability are the ones showing the most gap between current and desired
state
With regards to questions on proposed cab sharing, it was observed that majority of the respondents (>75%) were not
willing to share their personal vehicles due to security, loss of flexibility and their aversion of being seen as a driver
which many considered as a profession of low standards. However they were ready to share their vehicle with their
acquaintances. The interesting insight is that the same people were
ready to travel in a shared vehicle which did not belong to them
Secondary research on the prospects of the cab industry has
revealed that even though Volume share of radio cabs is extremely
low at ~5% , it still forms ~ 11% of the cab market by value apart
from the facts mentioned in the case. An interesting revelation was
obtained by studying different business models in various industries
and specifically the evolution of value (assets, services, goods)
providers. While many industries have evolved from suppliers to
aggregators to integrators (providers of platforms to connect
suppliers and users for multiple services), the transport industry still
does not have a player in the integrator spectrum as shown in the
info graphic.
A detailed study of non-mobility player Flipkart, which has
transitioned to become an integrator by moving to a marketplace
model, shows it trying to leverage the advantages of an aggregator
namely scalability and low capital intensiveness. We believe that this is a space that Ola Cabs should enter into as
well, taking Flipkart as inspiration.
Formulation of strategy for the future of Indian transport industry
Based on the insights obtained from the research the following analysis has been obtained on the mobility needs in
India
which
can be
addressed by an integrated sharing model.

Hence on the basis of the above analysis and also considering the fact that the majority of consumers are educated
about using technology for information and concluding deals we propose an integrator model for the cab sharing
industry which shall be implemented in two phases over a three year period. The first phase shall focus on
implementing cab sharing through Ola and other radio cabs and metered taxis only due to the reservations expresses
for personal vehicles. During this time we hope to inculcate the habit of sharing vehicles among people, so as to
reduce their inhibitions for the second phase which shall focus on bringing in personal vehicles to the proposed model.
Marketing Campaigns for implementation of strategy
We have strategized a marketing campaign Operation Transporter which is a two pronged campaign with different
messages targeted at the two stakeholders: Normal commuters and cab drivers (radio and metered taxi). For phase 1
we propose a 3-dimensional campaign for the normal commuters with the tagline Jab aap ye share kar sakte hain to
cab kyun nai .The picture or the ad can show various things people normally share symbolizing ye - with two people
in a cab sharing a Coke or a packet of biscuits or Chips. This message will be communicated through three
dimensions of social media, print ads and sharing spots at different metros.
The campaign for radio cab and metered drivers will focus on educating them about the benefits of cab sharing and
how their profit will increase. This will be done through local meets and distribution of pamphlets. The greater the
number of cabs converted higher the probability of cab sharing becoming popular in India.
For phase 2 we will focus on promoting personal vehicle sharing for transport which will be based on the insights and
feedback received over the two year period of phase 1 with the intention of making carpooling a more common
occurrence with people willing to share as well as drive with others without any inconvenience or stigma attached
through Ola Cabs existing app and an online portal with an extra option of car sharing.
Going forward, we intend to make carpooling, a zero - liquid cash exercise, with a prepaid account and card
where the amounts get transferred to and fro as the individual moves from owner to sharer which is based on the
insight that people would not like to be paid, especially for driving somebody around.