A Johannesburg woman is raving about her experience using the new Uber Moto feature, which offers a motorcycle ride to your next destination.
The concept was introduced to South Africa a few months ago as an affordable alternative to traditional e-hailing trips. It is currently being piloted in the Johannesburg area.
JOZI WOMAN SHARES HER UBER MOTO EXPERIENCE
TikTok user Mośebodi Mary Morotoba shared a clip of her experience using an Uber Moto this week.
The Johannesburg woman revealed that she spent just R12,25 for an e-hailing trip to her destination. In the clip, Morotoba was seated behind the motorbike driver who whizzed his way through the city’s traffic.
“I’m obsessed”, she captioned the clip.
When asked about her unique Uber experience, the woman responded to a follower: “Very nice.”
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
According to Uber, the new Moto ride-sharing feature was recently introduced to meet the demand of e-hailing requests and offer quicker, affordable, and more “comfortable” alternatives to public transport.
The rides are for single passengers, also known as pillion drivers.
While payment and safety features work similarly to those of a traditional mode of transport, the safety features of being a passenger on a motorbike are obviously different.
Passengers are given a spare helmet by the driver, and advised to hold onto the handlebars at the back of the motorbike,.
“People are firstly uncertain about the modality of the transport itself. Is it safe? Will it get me to the place? But once they experience it, their perception is changed”, Uber’s GM for Sub-Saharan Africa Deepesh Thomas told Business Live.
With over two million active e-hailing passengers in South Africa, the Moto service will be based on demand and supply.
“We also expect to have a national rollout in the future, but now [the] focus is to scale this up in Johannesburg, and let’s do it responsibly and safely. And once it makes sense here, we’ll look at other cities. And not just the core cities, maybe even in the smaller cities, if there’s sufficient demand”, he added.
EXPERTS SHARE THEIR SAFETY CONCERNS
Meanwhile, road safety experts are raising concerns that Uber Moto is not only irresponsible but also dangerous.
Motorcycle Safety Institute of South Africa’s Hein Jonker told MyBroadBand: “It’s about making money; it is not about the life carried by an incompetent and underqualified rider in an unsafe environment on a most likely incapable motorcycle.
“There are just too many variables to address and too few laws or regulations to effectively manage such a programme”
Jonker added that in order for motorbike drivers to carry passengers, they must possess a special PrDP and K53 licence, something that is glaringly omitted from the FAQ.
Driving.co.za managing director Rob Handfield-Jones added that being a motorbike passenger or pillion, required a special skill too, and was not something average commuters were accustomed to.
Another concern was the lack of helmet sizing, given that drivers carry just one spare. Sharing the same helmet as other passengers could spread skin and hair infections.
WOULD YOU USE AN UBER MOTO SERVICE?
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