When Capetonians found out that we live in the most congested city in South Africa, according to the latest Tom Tom Traffic Index – we could definitely believe it. With 2 – 3 hour long traffic hauls to and from work and school every day, we were in dire need of a solution to our tricky traffic troubles.
The Tom Tom index also showed that 79% of cars entering the CBD are single occupancy vehicles, so carpooling pilot, uGoMyWay has launched through Accelerate Cape Town (ACT) in an attempt to ease the chronic traffic in Cape Town’s CBD.
The app, which is available on iOS and Android, allows users to create routine journeys such as home-to-work or home-to-school. Your matches will then be ranked and a messaging function within the app allows users to define a basic relationship before personal details are exchanged. Just like Tinder, but with people in your area travelling in the same direction as you are, and with zero romantic expectations. Like, none. Don’t make it weird.
Once you’ve been paired up with your a fellow carpooler, you will be able to establish who will drive and what the shared costs will be. The app also allows users to request to be a part of a “ring-fenced community”, which includes only members of their specific workplace or school.
Settled on a monthly basis and managed through the app, the current recommended rate goes at R1 per kilometre and distances are automatically calculated through the geo-location software of the app.
The app hopes to alleviate the heavy traffic in the Cape Town CBD by connecting potential carpoolers in the same area, and taking singularly-occupied vehicles off of the road.
Photography Kate Serbin on Unsplash, screenshots from the Google Play Store
