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UDIO (Bosnian word for ‘Sharing’) is a truly Sri Lankan app designed and developed for carpooling. Developed by Codezync Ltd., a local startup, with the seed funding by Azaam Fashir (Director of Operations Sita Travels, Saudi Arabia), UDIO helps vehicle owners to earn an extra income, and passengers to get a comfortable, affordable, faster and safer ride to their destination with an opportunity for networking. The app can be downloaded via https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codezync.udio&hl=en (for Android devices) and https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/udio/id1296199875?mt=8 (for iOS devices).
Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one-person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves.
By having more people using one vehicle, carpooling reduces each person’s travel costs such as: fuel costs, tolls, and the stress of driving. Carpooling is also a more environmentally friendly and sustainable way to travel as sharing journeys reduces air pollution, carbon emissions, traffic congestion on the roads, and the need for parking spaces. Authorities often encourage carpooling, especially during periods of high pollution or high fuel prices. Car sharing is a good way to use up the full seating capacity of a car, which would otherwise remain unused if it was just the driver using the car (Wikipedia).
If you are a vehicle owner all you have to do is get registered with UDIO by providing details about you and your vehicle. Then a trip can be easily added by simply mentioning the starting and ending locations. Any drop/pickup locations (stop overs) within the route along with the starting date and time of the journey along with other mandatory and optional details such as max luggage, detour etc. can be easily keyed in. It also provides a “Ladies Only” option to restrict ride-sharing only among female passengers. Once the relevant details are entered UDIO will pre-compute the fare subjected to the vehicle and the distance of the total trip as an aggregate of all the individual stop overs. The fare can be altered by the driver if required. As preceding information is confirmed the trip will be enlisted.
If you are a passenger, you need to simply select a trip and send a join request to the driver. If the driver accepts within the relevant time period, a notification is received requesting for payment. Once payment is completed the passenger and driver will be linked and the contact information will be shared.
UDIO allow passengers and drivers to rate and review each other which can be viewed publicly within the app.
Before accepting or joining a ride you can review your driver/passenger/co passenger details. Udio provides various verification information such as NIC/Passport, driving license, Facebook profile, profile picture, ratings and reviews by past passengers/drivers.
CODEZYNC Co-Founder/Director Yasindu Dambadeniya says, “The most common question people ask when we talk about carpooling is how secured it is? Yes, there can be such risks. UDIO collects identity information, driving license, vehicle information and social profiles, etc. of it’s users. Also, the system relies on peer reviews and ratings to measure the quality of a co-passenger or a driver and have the ability on tracking pickup and drop locations. Plus, UDIO offers a Ladies Only option to ensure the safety of female users.”
“The team behind Udio are trying to include more security measures in the future such as complete trip tracking on users request. Verifying the identity information directly via network providers and so on,” says CODEZYNC Co-Founder/CEO Aneef Fashir.
“UDIO is aimed at encouraging and increasing carpooling to reduce the carbon footprint as well as a solution for high traffic congestion,” states CODEZYNC Co-Founder/Director Ajith Pushpa Kumara.
Once a trip is completed, your balance will be updated in the finance section of the app and if banking details were provided, the payments will be transferred to your account within three working days.
UDIO will charge 10% from each completed ride as a service charge only from the driver.
How is UDIO Different from taxi apps like Uber, PickMe, Ride, etc?
To put it simply, your empty seats can earn you some money!
UDIO carpooling is for everyone. Unlike taxi services which are on demand and driven by professional chauffeurs, UDIO can be used by anyone wishing to share their ride with suited passengers who are travelling towards the preset destination. You are not required to “Work” for UDIO, rather you will be using UDIO to schedule trips towards a destination and people can make requests to join in and can be used within any locations of Sri Lanka.
Ultimately UDIO focuses on reducing traffic congestion, save fuel, save time, and contribute positively towards saving the environment.
With or without UDIO, carpooling is an ideal solution to Sri Lanka. Average traffic speed in Colombo during peak hours is between 6-12Kmph (based on a report by University of Moratuwa). Despite of taxes look at the number of vehicles purchased in a year. The vehicle number plate speaks for itself.
E.g.: It takes around one hour to travel from Bambalapitiya to Dehiwala and almost 40 minutes of it is due to the heavy traffic congestion on Galle road. We do blame tuks and buses, but in reality there are too many vehicles with a single traveller. If we can group 4 people in 1 vehicle, imagine the number of vehicles we could eliminate.
Also carpooling would be a good solution for the lack of comfort, service and safety in public transport and finally, this is a great way to recover the fuel and maintenance costs of a vehicle.
UDIO is all about shared economy. They plan to provide facilities for corporate transport companies, school transport as well as tours. UDIO is also looking at integrating a convenient bus booking service in to the app too.
