Uber pushes intercity, reserve rides, leans on longer trips

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Uber is increasing efforts in India for new mobility verticals such as intercity rides, hourly rentals and reserved bookings, some of which have seen more than 40% year-on-year growth over the past 12 months.

The company has expanded the intercity service to around 100 cities and is adding new features to the offering that increases the average ticket size on the platform. In the last two months, it has allowed users to book roundtrips on their intercity rides.

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Speaking to ET, Uber India’s head of new mobility Shweta Mantri said: “What we have today is a lot of data and consumer insights that tell us what the expanding needs of consumers are. Using some of that, we’ve realised that there has been a gap in the market for a few years now, where long-distance travel is not available on the Uber app.”

She said that the company is also considering launching intercity rides — currently operational only in India — in some of the other global markets where Uber operates.

Uber said on intercity trips, with the roundtrip feature, the platform has witnessed more people using the option across use cases such as leisure, tourism and business, compared to people booking one-way rides.

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“Typically, because intercity rides are long distance, average fare for riders is typically higher…and in a product where the average fare is higher…the margins are