Carpool Arabia: Looking to ease the UAE’s traffic congestion woes

Not many entrepreneurs can claim that their brightest
business idea was born on the road, but for Frenchman Benjamin de
Terssac, that was the case for his UAE startup.

“While commuting every day from
Dubai to Abu Dhabi, I made a few observations,” he tells Wamda.
“Firstly, most of the cars were occupied by a single person: the
driver. And due to traffic congestion, it took me around two hours
to reach the office [in non-rush hour traffic, the same journey
would take around an hour and 10 minutes]. Other people at my
workplace were also facing the same issue.”

Taking a taxi every day was not really an option to,
as de Terssac puts it, “relieve my commuter’s stress.” After all,
it’s hardly cost effective in the long run. A single cab ride from
Dubai Marina to Abu Dhabi Corniche (a distance of approximately
124km) costs 230 AED ($63) on
average. Multiply that by two to factor in the return journey, 20
times a month, and you’re left with a monthly expense of a whopping
9,200 AED ($2,500).

There’s also the fact that petrol
prices in the UAE are among the lowest in the world, with a gallon
costing around 6.50 AED ($1.77). So it makes economical sense for
residents to drive themselves.

And that’s when de Terssac – who has
been based in the UAE for three years – had his ‘Eureka’ moment. To
provide a solution that would help passengers and drivers share a
ride and its cost, and in turn ease traffic congestion and benefit
the environment.

Enter Carpool Arabia.

Now cofounder and CEO of Carpool
Arabia, de Terssac’s website offers a portal where
drivers and passengers alike can register and find users who
commute on the same route with whom to share rides – and
expenses. A 124km shared ride with Carpool Arabia costs
between 25 AED ($7) to 40 AED ($11) per seat, a steal compared to the costs
mentioned above. 

And he may be onto something. The
UAE government is said to be looking at a number of measures to
reduce congestion on the roads, particularly in the run up to the
2020 Dubai Expo. In 2008, the government legalized carpooling, and
Hussain Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, recently
told a Hamburg business forum that the country’s current level of
traffic congestion is “unsustainable and all efforts must be made
to limit the number of journeys made in private
vehicles.”

It seems the government has a reason
to worry.

According to the country’s Roads
& Transport Authority (RTA), there are approximately 541 cars
owned per 1,000 people in Dubai alone. This number far exceeds
similar statistics of New York City (444 cars per 1,000 residents),
London (345), and Singapore (111).

As of December 2013, the number of
vehicles registered in the emirate was 1,240,931, up 8% from
1,137,748 during the same period in 2012.

During the 2014 Government Summit,
Ahmad Hashim Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency said that
this average increase of more than 100,000 cars per year is “too
high for a small city like Dubai with a population of 2.5
million.”

In fact, if the current rate of
ownership continues, then there will be 1.5 million registered cars
in Dubai by the year 2020.

Launching the
product 

It was during Startup Weekend Dubai,
in late November 2013, that Carpool Arabia came to life.
Coincidentally, it was the very same weekend de Terssac would meet
his business partner – now cofounder and Chief Product Officer –
Guillaume Arnaud (pictured below, left).

“I had never met him before,”
reveals de Terssac. “But the 54-hour program helped us find a lot
of common interests regarding setting up an online venture
together. I’ve been very lucky to be able to form a team of
ambitious and committed people during that event. From day one, we
were able to put together a team of five [the cofounders and three
developers], which helped us a lot to be faster on the
market.”

The company was bootstrapped with a
$50,000 investment from the founders, and six weeks later,
CarpoolArabia.com was open for beta users. The website officially
launched on February 18, 2014.

The growth rate for this small scale
startup is looking promising. As of December 1, 2014, 35,667 seats
have been offered across 667,354km throughout the UAE (the average
trip being 46km). According to the CEO, this marks an increase of
58% month-on-month, with the number of users now reaching 965 (an
increase of 36% month-on-month).

He continues: “Carpool Arabia has
the largest carpooling community in the UAE. Every day we offer
more than 300 rides across the country. When users come to our
portal, they are likely finding the ride they need.”

How safe is safe? 

Naturally, it’s advised to exercise
caution and common sense when arranging carpooling. Carpool Arabia
has taken steps to ensure that all rides are safe and
fuss-free.

While carpooling between co-workers,
friends, and family requires no additional RTA approval, the
company recommends that all its users register their details with
RTA portal Sharekni.ae
if they intend to carpool with someone they do not know.

“I would say that the most important
thing is to feel comfortable with your co-rider,” de Terssac says.
“Check their profile, chat with them, or see if you belong to the
same community. That helps a lot. We also have other safety tips on
our website.”

Additionally, drivers using Carpool
Arabia must possess valid auto insurance that covers all
passengers.

Expansion
plans

De Terssac and his teams have big
plans for 2015 – they’re set to focus on
their mobile offering as well as online payment
solutions.

In terms of capital required,
they’re hoping to raise cash through crowdfunding.

He explains: “We are now looking for
an external investment of $250,000 in order to go mobile, develop
our marketing plan, attract and retain the best talent in the team,
and prepare our online payment gateway.

“We started a
crowdinvestment campaign on Eureeca,
and we have already received $72,000 – which is 57% of our target.
The campaign will last for another 36 days.”