"Outside Uber", reads several porteño taxis in Buenos Aires, as a form of protest before a service that, according to prosecutor Martín Lapadu to iProUP, remains illegal in the City, despite the app enabling payment with credit cards credit.
However, while taxi drivers have a focused look on Uber, other forms of mobility arise that every day more passengers subtract. It is true that the travel app with driver has frequent use by users, but it is also true that other competitors that "kick against" in Federal Capital burst.
One of them is Ecobici system, whose current version will be one year old on February 25. It is free, provided by the Brazilian Tembici, which won the tender in mid-2018 and invested $ 70 million to install a network that is still growing today and has more than 4,000 rounds and 40 stations.
So important has become that, after the announcement of the Buenos Aires government about the closure of several stations in the south of the City, a group of users - led by the senator by the Front of All Martín Recalde - presented an appeal for restraint that decision For many, free mobility is a kind of "acquired right."
"It already has a presence in almost all neighborhoods, having started with just 22. Today we have 377 operating stations and the measure only affects 20, basically it was taken by bicycle thefts," said iProUP from the Secretary of Transportation of Buenos Aires.
Much of the success of the Ecobici is based on its extensive network and, of course, its free scheme: whoever wants to use it should only install an app to unlock the shot. By the way, that practicality helped lower the main barrier, which is to test the service.
The Brazilian company obtains income mainly from the Itaú advertising (replicating the network deployed in the city of San Pablo) and Mastercard. In addition, it receives a canon from the Buenos Aires government that was set at $ 470 million for the 10-year concession.
Thus, the "orange avalanche" faces other means of public transport. But it is not the only mode that subtracts passengers. For short journeys, the use of electric skateboards is also gaining prominence. And not only for those who rent, since many individuals are gradually turning to the purchase of one.
In figures
The expansion of the Ecobici is surprising: in less than a year it already has more than 630,000 registered users. That is, 22% of the 2.9 million people living in the City have already downloaded the application.
Faced with such demand and with an average of 8 million trips per day, it is logical for Buenos Aires to run into a problem every day: the lack of wheels available in some stations.
"Our total fleet is 4,000 bicycles, between operations, in the workshop and with 'red button' in the post waiting to be removed for repair," they tell iProUP from the Buenos Aires government.
There is another aspect that exposes the rivalry between orange bikes and black and yellow cars: according to the Ministry of Transportation, the average route is around 5 kilometers in both cases. Moreover, both already tie in participation:
- Taxi: 4%
- Ecobici: 4%
- Collective: 60%
- Subway: 17%
- Train: 1%
"While in 2009 only 0.4% of trips in the City were made by bike, that percentage climbed to 4%. This form of mobility adds adherents and for a large majority of them it has become the main option for get to work or go to study without paying a peso, "they warn from the Secretariat.
On the Uber side, it does not provide figures on the number of users in Buenos Aires territory, since its metrics are collected in "zones": it has 75,000 drivers and 2 million passengers in the metropolitan area (Capital and Conurbano), per month.
Future
The strong demand of the Ecobici and the lack of rolling force to think about the pending matters of this modality, although for now the installation of new stations is not planned. Yes it is under evaluation where to locate the 20 that were removed.
"We confirm the need to develop another collective behavior, a cultural change that encourages a model of mobility increasingly thought about people, in which private cars are less and less protagonists in the streets and individuals occupy that place," They emphasize.
On this point, they add: "The neighbors can now find alternative stations 10 blocks away. The design of the Cyclovias and Bicisendas Network favors connectivity to the central area, transshipment centers and points that concentrate a high number of posts labor and student. "
Julián Podolsky, an expert on sustainable mobility issues, points out that the great advantage of the Ecobici is also its maximum against: "Its gratuity ends up perverting the entire transport system," he says to iProUP. In his vision, this results in the operation not working ideally.
"It should be charged. And reward the behavior as in New York, where points are given on Amazon to the user who returns the bike at a station that is at a certain point," says the expert.
From his point of view, "a good strategy in urban mobility is what allows the access of the entire population. For example, that the user who lives in the south can go to a hospital in the north with any means of public transport."
"This does not mean that it is free, but that anyone can benefit. That there is greater human scale and smaller scale of cars, so that people choose to move in a more sustainable way," he says.
Alternatives
It's not just about bikes. Today, the new mobility alternatives available in Buenos Aires and the suburbs seek to reduce the importance of the taxi. However, these companies try to watch the "full movie" and become better options than traditional transport.
"The real competitor of Cabify is the position of the private vehicle, which is inefficient. Among all the actors we have the chance to improve this reality," they emphasize iProUP from the Spanish company, a concept that all driver travel apps share.
"Many drivers use Uber when they go to and from their place of work, the study center and even public transport terminals. The possibility of making trips that are on the way to their own destinations collaborates with the decrease in traffic and makes it more efficient mobility in cities, "Felipe Fernández Aramburu, Head of Business Development at Uber, tells iProUP.
In this sense, in the Federal Capital there are 1.6 million patented private vehicles, more than 10% of the total park of the country (13 million) without counting the public transport and the cars that come from the Conurbano daily. That is, a car circulates every two Buenos Aires.
After the last increase in taxi fares, the driver travel service provided by the apps is up to 70% cheaper. For example, to travel 40 blocks would be spent:
- Taxi: between $ 150 and $ 180 (according to the BA Taxi app)
- Cabify: between $ 145 and $ 175
- Uber: between $ 130 and $ 160
- Beat: from $ 105
In the case of Uber, the initial rate (similar to the flag drop) is $ 29, while the equivalent to the chip is the sum of the price per kilometer ($ 11.20) and the minute ($ 3).
For its part, Cabify has a base price of $ 35; while the cost per kilometer is $ 16.50 and the cost per minute is $ 21.
Like the taxi, these last two values increase between 22 and 6 to $ 16.50 and $ 25.20.
"We have no variation in the price contemplated for now," Melisa Cabo, head of Public Affairs of Grin Argentina, tells iProUP. Miguel Abad, his pair of Movo Latin America, expresses itself in the same sense: "There is still no definition regarding the increase in rates."
Movo and Grin had the same rates until a few days ago, but the latter adjusted their prices 30%:
- Movo: $ 15 unlocking and $ 8 per minute
- Grin: $ 20 the first item and $ 10 per minute
Therefore, a journey of 15 blocks would cost $ 55 pesos in Movo and $ 70 in Grin.
- "The average trips are 2.5 km in 15 minutes, which is consistent with other cities in Latin America. This is equivalent to $ 130," Abad remarks. He adds that Movo has 8,500 monthly users.
- For its part, Cabo says that in Grin "the tours vary between 8 and 13 minutes depending on factors such as day of the week, time and weather." An average journey is around $ 130. The platform already has 25,000 active users per month.
Cabo says that promotions are being launched "on a constant basis in networks and in the app for more people to get on this alternative." "We are promoting the Grin Prime program that, in exchange for a monthly subscription of $ 75, there are infinite free unlocks throughout the month," says the executive.
Although Movo, at the moment it only seeks to establish itself in Palermo, Microcentro and Puerto Madero; in Grin they bet to become strong in the area with greater purchasing power of Federal and Conurbano Capital.
"We would like to extend to Núñez and bring the service of electric skateboards to Vicente López so that our clients can enjoy and connect the City of Buenos Aires with the road corridor that reaches San Isidro", completes Cabo.
Meanwhile, the Ecobici continues to advance positions against other public means of transport and seems to have no greater obstacle than its own success: the lack of available bicycles.
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