IIM Indore Alumna Shares Experience In Bringing Mobility To Disabled In Bangalore

India is home to an elderly population (aged 60 years and above) of more than 104 million and people with disabilities numbering 70 million. With all modes of road transport remaining practically inaccessible, they face a daily challenge in mobility.

A collaboration between corporates in IT, Transportation and NPO (a not-for-profit organisation) in Bangalore is seeking to remedy the situation to some extent in providing accessible mobility solutions to the elderly people with disabilities, pregnant women and women with young children.

Manisha Singh, Lead, Impact Funding, CSR, MPHASIS Ltd. and an alumna of IIM Indore, gave a presentation about this project on November 15 at the 15^th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED 2018) in Taipei, Taiwan.

This is Asia’s-first taxi service as an option for those who require additional assistance – such as senior citizens and people with accessibility needs. It features a fleet of 500 vehicles with driver partners trained and certified in “disability etiquettes” to assist passengers with accessibility needs.

She said, in the year 2017, Mphasis F1 Foundation, the company’s CSR arm, partnered with Uber Technologies Inc. to launch Mphasis-uberASSIST and Mphasis-UberACCESS, an initiative to provide accessible public transportation services in Bangalore.

The third partner was DEOC (Diversity and Equal Opportunity Centre), an award-winning “Not for Profit” organisation working in the disability sector in India. DEOC has been widely recognized for its work in disability inclusion and accessibility.

Timeline

2013: Before tying up with Uber, Mphasis F1 Foundation did a pilot and established proof of concept and demand for such specialised taxi service with a home-grown startup-“Kickstart Cabs”.

July 2016: To make the service scalable and affordable and to enhance choices for people with disabilities, tie up with a global player “Uber Inc” seemed necessary. Discussions with Uber started.

October 2017: Mphasis-Uber/ASSIST service launched in Bangalore.

October 2018: Mphasis-UberACCESS service got on the road in October 2018.

Roles and responsibilities of each entity

Manisha said the role of Mphasis was to ideate and spearhead this multi-industry collaboration, financial sponsorship of the complete initiative and assistance in regulatory approvals.

Uber was to provide access to its technology platform, entire operations, cab procurement, retrofitting, identifying drivers, retrofitting design and other necessary modifications.

DEOC was tasked with curriculum design, conducting the training and certification of driver partners.

This is Asia’s-first taxi service as an option for those who require additional assistance – such as senior citizens and people with accessibility needs. It features a fleet of 500 vehicles with driver partners trained and certified in “disability etiquettes” to assist passengers with accessibility needs.

The vehicles can accommodate folding wheelchairs, walkers and scooters. The fare is kept affordable at UberPremier rates. The service is available “on demand” with maximum ETA of 20-25 minutes.

Manisha said Mphasis-Uberassist recorded more than 53,000 rides from October 31, 2017, to September 30, 2018. As many as 29,000+ people used the service. The vehicles have clocked 0.3 million+ Kms.

UberACCESS pilots are going on at present with a closed group of 18+ users in Bangalore. Full-fledged service will start after 100 test rides.

Customer feedback ratings of ASSIST service was higher than other Uber products. At present, Uber has a fleet of 39 retrofitted vehicles to be increased to 49 in the coming months. These vehicles have rear entry facility, with forward-facing seats, unlike other wheelchair-accessible vehicles which require riders to sit facing sideways or backwards.

This option offers retrofitted vehicles, with heightened roof and hydraulic wheelchair lift. The vehicles have tie-down straps and ratchet, which are used to secure the wheelchair to the floor

Riders have access to several smart features including the facility to track the ride real time, ability to share ETA and allowing friends and family to follow the trip remotely.

UberACCESS pilots are going on at present with a closed group of 18+ users in Bangalore. Full-fledged service will start after 100 test rides.

Mrunmaiy Abroal, the first Mphasis-UberACCESS rider, stated that she felt very comfortable in the vehicle as her wheelchair was strapped to the floor with four straps rather than two as in some other wheelchair accessible vans (WAVs). She also appreciated the courteous manner of the Mrunmaiy, accompanied by her parents, sister and nephew had visited a local resto-bar and returned home using the service.

Manisha said with this project, some of the big issues facing people with mobility issues have been solved. Hitherto, on-demand travel for people with reduced mobility in India needed to be planned hours or days in advance. Now, Mphasis-uberASSIST and UberACCESS, on an average, can get them a ride within 20-25 minutes at their doorstep.

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This service, with the provision of specially trained drivers, helps them get around independently without needing support or company to travel.

In terms of affordability, since it is a fully funded program by Mphasis F1 Foundation, the pricing has been subsidized keeping in mind the affordability for the target population. Hence, the service is available at normal pricing as that of regular Uber taxis, she added.(Image Source:pixabay.com)