Ride-Sharing will save Lagos

[TheKosara]

@ChikaObuah, you are quite an intelligent man, I can see. In a bid to not make this an intellectual argument, I’ll argue that I can show you another side for each of your points and still make sense. Like how based on this;

@ChikaObuah

If you try moving around VI without a car, you will find that you almost always have to go back to Obalende; very inefficient. Also who says public transport cant be Uberized?

I can argue that we can always just go back to the root problem for that particular scenario, “Inefficient routing” and just do the obvious thing, “Create a more efficient, optimized routing system for transportation”.

Or how based on this…

@ChikaObuah

A lot of traffic prone routes are traffic prone because bus drivers are trying to pickup passengers. Imagine if picking up passengers was not a random event in this country? Imagine if it doesn’t also have to be scheduled? Imagine if it can still be done at peoples convenience? Imagine if we can forecast it with an accuracy of more than 70%? Won’t we use less rides? That is the opportunity; organizing the madness–the demand.

You can imagine how if public transportation that moves above 14 passengers per trip (Economies of scale); Imagine the madness and chaos when ride sharers go to “pick-up hotspots” (Because yes, there will be those too and the bus-stops will likely still not go anywhere) at rush hour (Because using an Uber doesn’t actually make drivers more civilized… Except somehow, it does).

…
So I’ll just stop here.

What I know, and also got from @xolubi is that Uber is not just ride-sharing, but also a taxi-hailing service (Which is basically renting a vehicle aka owning one for a short duration) which is the chaos of both. This sort of bites the point you’re trying to prove, in its own foot… If I’m right.

What we should be talking about is to see how the capitalism of ride-sharing or car-sharing (or renting), or both will play out its adoption here. I don’t believe in right and wrong, just what you feel. Eventually those that find it convenient will subscribe. No too-much-thought.

If we want to truly save Lagos, we should START WITH and objectively look at the problem from it’s root and debate other possibilities of solving this problem. Instead of this surface debate of how an app on a smartphone in a country with low mobile technology adoption and expensive internet (which at best, will be yet-another-solution-for-the-elite, segregating most of the masses), will help save it from congestion. And we should be looking at improving the system so the vehicles pass efficiently, or reducing the vehicles on the already shitty roads, or somehow manage to do both. Or something I’m yet to think of.

This topic should Ideally be “How do we save Lagos from Congestion”. But this is a tech forum.

Carry on, but if you still speak further in favour of Uber, I’ll just think you’re primarily here to advertise Uber.

[ChikaObuah]

Apparently there are several schools of thoughts on this, and I stand with the tech companies.

[ChikaObuah]

LOL, Tech will save Lagos.

[Lamidi_b_a]

@TheKosara

Create a more efficient, optimized routing system for transportation

This is what Lagos needs, more routes and other means of transportation. That is what will save Lagos, not ride sharing

[ChikaObuah]

When a city becomes congested enough, extra routes cannot decongest it. And at our rate of urbanization, we are getting there.

[Nwabu]

Most big cities like london and new York built their mass transit systems long ago before their cities got big. Nigeria is doing it the other way around. It means for cities like Lagos planners have to now analyze route patterns to decide what to put on them. A train makes sense when you are dealing with thousands of people moving in a single direction. A bus makes sense when you are dealing with hundreds. Capturing transport data from cellphones will help not just for congestion planning but even for businesses in choosing where to locate.