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Cut the expense of the daily commute with peer-to-peer rider services or turn your car into a carpool and make money. Phumlani S Langa looks at two new local innovations.
City One
Free on iStore, coming to Android next month
Created by Gugulethu Mhlanga and Simphiwe Kuse to aid the struggle of the daily commute, the goal of City One is to make moving around your city less expensive.
Whether you drive yourself or look to our far-from-well-thought-out public transport system, you spend a pretty penny on an expense that in theory could be shared.
City One works in a similar way to other apps of this nature, where you hail a ride via your cell phone. The app determines the direction you’re travelling in and then links you to a registered car heading the same way. You can register your own car to pick other people up and actually get money from that. It’s a smart carpool, if you will. The app is in its infancy, with few registered cars so far, but as it grows it will be an incredibly convenient ride alternative.
RentMyRide
Sign up for free at rentmyride.co.za
Developed in Cape Town, RentMyRide is a peer-to-peer car rental platform.
Founder Peter Puren started out working for a car rental business and later started his own small car rental business from his apartment. He only had four cars and progressed by renting out other people’s cars for them.
Managing it on a whiteboard became laborious and admin-intensive, which resulted in his partnering with Cape Town developer Rudolf Vavruch and RentMyRide was born.
This app works in a similar way to the City One app in that you can register your car to be used by other commuters, with the fare being determined by the retail value of the car and the owner’s discretion. RentMyRide has a growing number of users and ensures their safety through rigorous background checks.
