Uber has brought uberBODA to Nairobi, giving city users a motorcycle-hailing option through the Uber app. The launch came five months after the service started in Kampala, Uganda.
The company said the product is aimed at short trips across the city and is meant to offer a quicker way to move through traffic. Uber also said the service would give driver-partners another way to grow their businesses.
UberBODA enters a market already served by TaxifyBoda, GetBoda, VutaRide, SafeBoda and BusyBoda, among other operators. The move places Uber in direct competition with existing boda boda platforms in Kenya.
Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber’s vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the service would give passengers the same door-to-door experience they already knew from Uber, but on a boda boda. He said riders would still be able to see driver details such as the name, photo and licence plate number, and could use the app to contact the driver if pick-up details were unclear.
Uber said uberBODA drivers had met National Transport and Safety Authority requirements and had received extra road safety training. The company added that each driver-partner would go through screening, hold the relevant permits and attend an information session on the app and road safety.
Passengers and drivers were to receive reflective jackets and helmets. Uber also said injury protection from UAP-Old Mutual would apply from 21 December 2018.
To use the service, passengers open the Uber app and select uberBODA. The fare structure was set at a base fare of KES 55, a minimum fare of KES 60 and KES 14 per kilometre. The service was available across Nairobi except the CBD.
Uber said the Nairobi rollout fit its wider approach of offering different products in its app across global markets. In Kenya, the company already had uberCHAPCHAP, uberX, uberSELECT and uberPOA.
