Zigzag, a carpooling and ride-sharing app that connects drivers and passengers, recently launched in Dhaka. It is Bangladesh's first-ever carpooling platform.
Carpooling is a method of sharing a car with other passengers who are travelling in the same direction. Instead of four people driving four cars, one car can be shared with the others.
ZigZag Car works by connecting drivers and passengers on the same route by navigating the GPS on their mobile app.
The car will pick up the passenger from their location and drop them at the destination without the hassle of searching for vehicles midway.
This method also reduces environmental strain as it leads to lesser emission of greenhouse gasses from automobiles.
From the Middle East to India, the online carpooling service has been gaining momentum globally, especially when green activists have been advocating for less use of cars to reduce carbon emissions as well as protect the earth from the greenhouse effect.
In Zigzag Car, drivers post the date and time of their road trip to any distance and riders sign up for a seat.
Riders are able to get to their destination for a price that is typically affordable and good value for money.
At the same time, the cost of a driver's trip (gas, tolls, etc) is essentially paid for and a driver can actually make a profit for some trips with a fully booked car, according to the platform.
"By connecting co-travellers with drivers going the same way, ZigZag Car is filling up hundreds of empty car seats in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country," Co-Founder and CEO KM Aminur Rahman said in a press release.
He also said that the platform made a "flying start" with good responses from customers focusing on safety measures and insurance coverage.
In a LinkedIn post last week, the Founder of Zigzag Car Mehedi Reza wrote: “Private cars are not being fully optimized in Dhaka. According to a survey by Dhaka Urban Transport Network Development Study, it is estimated that over 46% of cars in Dhaka are privately owned with less than 1.5 people per car, on average.”
Zigzag Car is helping to increase this ratio while also lowering CO2 emissions. “Since we launched our MVP on November 17, we managed to bring 2,500 users to our platform. Interestingly, we have 20% female users and 80% male who are booking seats,” he wrote.
According to the top brass, Zigzag Car is filling up hundreds of empty car seats in Dhaka by connecting co-travellers with drivers going the same way.
Earlier in November of last year, the platform launched its minimum viable product of providing carpooling services over long distances.
Since then, over 2,500 users have registered with ZigZar Car, with the platform serving over 22,400 kilometers during the period, according to the company.
The platform also claims to have over 650 ZigZag drivers who completed over 1,000 rides, with the platform receiving over 2,200 seat bookings and having a customer return rate of around 35%.
