Carpool app picking up speed

Same direction: Ang demonstrating how Tripda can be used to pick people up on carpool trips.

PETALING JAYA: A carpool app called Tripda is picking up speed among Malaysia’s young adults.

Clocking some one million kilometres of use since September, the app which was first used for daily trips to work, is now becoming popular for interstate travel.

“(Now) the average length (of a trip) is about 30km to 40km. Even though short distance makes up the majority, long distance is really factoring in,” said Tripda managing director (Malaysia) Victor Ang.

He told The Star that at least 80% of Tripda users (and riders) were aged between 18 and 28 years.

Tripda – which is free – is so popular that the company is seeing a 100% month-to-month growth rate, although Ang is reluctant to say how many users are in Malaysia.

Tripda regional manager (Asia) Nitish Bhushan said trends in Malaysia were similar worldwide, adding that the people who used it for short trips were also later using it for long ones.

Tripda fees are cheaper than Uber or taxis. A Tripda rider can pay the driver about 30 sen per km for the first 20km.

Each kilometre after that will cost between eight and 14 sen each, depending on the driver’s choice.

Nitish said Tripda was focusing more on the Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Johor Baru and Ipoh routes.

Unlike ridesharing apps such as Uber, Tripda runs on driver-set schedules. A driver in Petaling Jaya already on his way to Ipoh on a Sunday afternoon can put up his ride on the app for others to see.

If he has empty seats, riders can book with him, get on and pay cash when they get off.

Ang said Tripda was not an on-demand service like Uber or taxis, and did not seek to replace them.

In the mid-90s, campaigns to get Malaysians to carpool failed to take off. Many cars today still only have a single rider – the driver.

A Kuala Lumpur City Hall document said 70% of all vehicle trips on the first and second Middle Ring Roads only had one occupant each.

Visit www.tripda.com.my for more information.