Taxi Pods in Mumbai, Why!

The economics and logistics of this bizarre proposal don't make sense at all

The story so far: Mumbai has decided to use taxi pods to transport people from Kurla and Bandra stations to BKC. These pods can carry six people at one time and there will be 21 pods to start off with. This is a bad idea. You can read more about it here.

Who Got the Taxi Pod Tender?

Sai Green Mobility is the company that has been awarded the tender for taxi pods in Mumbai. What are its credentials? Nothing. It was incorporated on 14 March 2024. As of this newsletter, it is not even six months old. As per the MCA (Ministry of Corporate Affairs), its main business is main line of business is Land Transport And Transport VIA Pipelines. However, it has not conducted any business yet.

Taxi pods are only used in one city in the world: London. From Wiki: The only publicly operating pod system opened at Heathrow Airport in London in May 2011 and is referred to as the Heathrow pod system. It consists of 21 vehicles operating on a 3.9-kilometre (2.4 mi) route connecting Terminal 5 to its business passenger car park, just north of the airport.

This means that a system used in an airport only in London (with much better roads and infrastructure) will be used on the streets of Mumbai. Sure, nothing weird about it.

What’s the Real Problem at BKC?

As mentioned earlier, BKC has over 2 lakh people visiting it daily. There are huge corporate offices with thousands of people working in each one. A majority of people come to BKC from three stations: Kurla and Sion on the central line, and Bandra on the western line. There is not enough public transport for them.

There used to be a dedicated bus lane at BKC running from Kurla to BKC. It saw 175 buses carry over 8,000 people in one trip. The 3.6 km distance which would normally take 37 minutes only took 15 minutes even during peak hours. In an hour, it could complete two trips, back and forth. A smart solution would have been to increase the number of buses and talk to companies asking them to stagger office timings so that all the crowd wouldn’t come in at 9 am and leave at 6 pm. But this didn’t happen.

It ran from 2016 to 2018. Why was it shut? This is from a DNA article in 2018. “BEST officials said that the left turns at junctions used by other vehicles posed a big hurdle to the BEST fleet. The BEST and MMRDA had proposed a special signalling system too but it never took off. "Unless the dedicated lanes are not on the right side of the road, it will be difficult to operate," said a BEST official.”

Basically, the MMRDA could have made things better with changing the side of the lanes. Instead, they chose to shut down the bus lane entirely!

Since the number of buses from local railway stations to BKC is woefully inadequate, “share” auto rickshaw drivers have taken over. This don’t run by the meter, they overcharge people and drive rashly without a care for traffic rules and safety. They stop other rickshaws from plying and they have blocked bus routes near the stations making it difficult for people to use the bus. The government has turned a blind eye to this. BKC also has a 30 km bicycle lane that runs around and through it. It has been is disrepair for years now and has been taken over for rickshaw parking.

If people think they can use Uber/Ola taxis to zoom in and out of BKC, they are in for a rude shock. Surge charges go up to 100 bucks for three km, and that is only if you are lucky enough to find a ride during peak hours. The traffic situation at BKC is so bad that it doesn’t make economic sense for thee drivers to accept short rides.

One BEST bus can transport at least 35 people in one trip. It takes up the space of three autos that can transport 9 people or two cars which generally transport 4 people on average. One taxi pod can carry 6 people. A BEST ticket is 10 bucks, while a share rickshaw ride is 30, a cab is 100 and a pod will be around 60. Why are taxi pods being introduced? It’s anyone’s guess!

Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. If you disagree with our analysis, please write back. If we have missed out on something or made wrong claims, please let us know.

Do write to us with any feedback, positive or critical. Like all new initiatives, there is a learning curve. We are especially cognizant that you have chosen to give us your valuable time from the millions of content options out there. Thank you!

Please reply to this email if you want us to cover any topic in particular. Definitely write to us if you want to cover a topic for us.

If you like what we do, please forward this newsletter to your friends and people you love.

If someone you love has sent you this newsletter, please click here and sign up for the newsletter and check out our Instagram page for more.

So long!

Team Reading Room