Han Ximin and Sky Gidge

    ximhan@126.com

    A MONDAY promotion may have given a peek of the future of transportation in Shenzhen. It saw 110,000 riders use Didi Kuaidi’s carpooling app to try ridesharing.

    “The rideshare is done by private car owners. They happen to be going somewhere and they pick you up,” said Angel Sui who works for UPS in Shenzhen. Sui has used the ridesharing function twice.

    Nationally, the promotion, dubbed “Orange Monday,” saw 2.23 million orders, triple the amount of the daily orders in June when the ridesharing function was introduced.

    “The fare is much lower than taking a taxi,” said Sui.

    Doing a rideshare costs 10 yuan (US$1.59) for the first 3 kilometers. Every kilometer after that costs 1 yuan, but the cost is split among all of the passengers.

    Taxis in Shenzhen cost 10 yuan during the day and 13 yuan during the evening for the initial 2 kilometers. Each kilometer after that costs 2.4 yuan, and a cost for time spent in the taxi when the taxi is not moving is also added to the fare.

    “A taxi would have cost me about 26 yuan, but this time I only paid 16,” said Sui, mentioning a specific ride she took to a friend’s house.

    Data gathered during the promotion showed the average age of riders using the service was 33. Male drivers outnumbered female drivers 14 to one, but men and women were equally likely to use the service.

    It’s hoped more riders using a carpooling service will lessen traffic during rush hour, but that depends on whether enough riders adopt the carpooling function of the app.

    Sui said she could see many people doing rideshares in the future, but the function had some limits. When she tried to do a rideshare before 5 p.m. yesterday, she found that no drivers were available.

    “The guy told me he got off work at 5 p.m. and could pick me up at 5:05 p.m.,” said Sui. “It’s easier to get a ride when people are off work.”

    There are no plans to create an English version of the Didi Kuaidi app, but a Didi Kuaidi representative said one could be made if there was enough customer demand.

    Didi Kuaidi, along with American carhailing app Uber, has hurt the taxi business in Shenzhen, triggering taxi drivers to protest in front of taxi company headquarters. Some drivers have even resigned, losing their right to drive taxis.

    Sui said a driver told her that Didi Kuaidi wanted to “knock down” the taxi service in Shenzhen.

    Didi Kuaidi was formed in February by a partnership between previously competing apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache. It controls more than 90 percent of China’s taxi-hailing market.