Carpooling catching on as fuel prices shoot up

HYDERABAD: Hit hard by steep fuel price hike, Hyderabadis have found a cost-effective and environment-friendly way to tackle the expense of commuting: carpooling.
With recurring fuel price hikes in the city, carpool agencies are reporting a steady rise in the number of requests asking them to connect to other people who want to hitch a ride together and split the cost.
"Many young professionals have registered with us in the past two months, most of them wanting to car or bike pool so that expenses can be shared. A large chunk of them are working in and around Hi-Tec City area and there is a dense network of people who are looking to carpool," said M V Chowdary, director of 'ridemates.org', a city-based online carpooling portal, which has 1,500 active members.
To beat the price hike, tech professional Smitha R has been sharing her drive to office with two others from Madinaguda to Hi-Tec City, a distance of 9 km, for the past two months. "I used to spend almost Rs 13,000 per month on fuel and with the price hike, I did not want to shell out more. Ever since I started carpooling, I have been saving around Rs 4,000, which is a substantial amount," she said.
In July, petrol prices went up by 70 paise per litre and diesel became dearer by Rs 50 paise per litre. This was the fifth increase in the past four months, which triggered demands for alternative ways.
Nagaraju Manchineni, who shifted to the city few months ago, started feeling the pinch of the petrol hike when he realized he would have to drive almost 18 km one way to reach his work place.
"I moved to Hyderabad from Noida where my workplace was just a stone's throw away. Unfortunately my shifting to Hyderabad coincided with the petrol price hike and now I am looking for people who want to share the drive and fuel expenses," Manchineni said, who recently got enrolled on an online carpooling portal.
Bike pools are also common with many two-wheeler owners saying they are looking for a pillion partner to split the diesel costs. "I have been riding from SR Nagar to Hi-Tec City for the past three years but now with prices of everything shooting up, I need to cut costs. A one way ride would cost about Rs 50, which may not seem much, but over the months it piles on to a huge sum," said Prasanth G, working as a senior consultant in an MNC in the city.