Over 95% Office Commuters Are Willing To Take A Carpool To Office Post Pandemic, sRide Survey Reveals

* Study conducted among 10,000 users in metro cities by leading carpooling app sRide 

The world economy is slowly returning to normalcy as the dark cloud looming over subsides and vaccination drives pacing in full throttle. There is a significant change in the sentiments of the workforce and return to office has become one of the key focus points for both individuals as well as businesses. sRide, India’s largest carpooling app through a survey found that 95% of the respondents in India expressed comfort carpooling their way to work once the country reopens for working from offices. Majority of them preferred commuting in ‘car bubbles’ with their own set of people. The survey also revealed 53% of respondents expect heading to work out of offices starting September. Over 10,000 respondents from the corporate community of India shared their views from 6 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune. 

Some of the key highlights of the study are that about 25% of respondents were willing to travel to offices three times a week while 30% were open to travel five times a week. The study which also collected responses from top IT companies across India revealed that organisations are looking at reopening their office spaces by October 2021 provided employees are completely vaccinated and depending on orders from the government.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Lakshna Jha, Founder & CEO, sRide, said, “We have noticed that carpoolers with sRide in the past have become friends and acquaintances. There is a greater sense of familiarity as they have traveled together in the past. Riders are also creating their own social bubbles with people they travel on the same route. One can also form social bubbles for frequent drives to the same place like the workplace, and enjoy the benefit of creating small communities to travel together and establish long-term relationships. Additionally, with the fuel price hike, use of personal vehicles has become expensive and makes Carpooling a preferred option.”

The concept of social bubbles has been the most followed trend in India in the last couple of months as the public has slowly started stepping out of their homes.  This concept became a trend as people have become more disciplined about maintaining their hygiene through social distancing. To ensure maximum hygiene and safety even while travelling, commuters have started to travel in their car bubbles. Since dependency on public transportation has reduced to avoid public exposure, commuters have increased their dependency on the next best affordable form of commute, carpooling. During the pandemic, sRide has helped users find “their set of people'' they feel safe in travelling and socialising. We have noticed the increase in the trend of commuters repeatedly choosing the same set of co-riders for their commute to work, shopping or be it vaccination drives. With strong emphasis on vaccination drives, easing up of lockdowns and reopening of businesses, the pandemic with its various impacts, has opened up the options for Carpooling in India. Given the circumstances, carpooling is the only win-win situation as it gives the combined benefit of cost-efficient ride by collectively saving on fuel expenses, a safe environment as you travel with your own set of familiar people and at the same time avoid extreme public exposure. sRide also encourages its users on various aspects of hygiene and sanitation in the new normal by consistently engaging with them through emailers, app notifications and several other communications. 

About sNeighbour from  sRide

sRide is a social platform that helps millions to commute by carpooling. With more than 2Million users across 10 All cities, sRide has helped more than 1 Million+ users monthly to share or pool their rides.  With sNeighbour, the 2 million users can come together to engage and help neighbourhoods.