A huge portion of Uganda’s population struggles with the daily bustle of commuting to and from work; a bigger number taking commuter buses, mini-buses, boda bodas, the sole commuter train that traverses some parts of the capital Kampala and of course, the personal cars.
In the Country’s major cities and municipalities, a cocktail of exhausted school going children, loud taxi touters and relentless hawkers among other characters makes the rush hour a nightmare that is dreaded by many.
In 2019, the Susan Mugyenyi Atalemwa’s train of thought led her to creating an app that would enable drivers and passengers headed in the same direction to share a car conveniently by deciding on a pick and drop off point along the route, thus the ‘Funa Ride’ idea.
“Funa” is a local dialect word that translates to “get” so the concept is “Get a ride.”
“My purpose in life is to solve problems that affect me and people around me. I am a graduate of business computing and I majored in database management so I knew systems, I could develop one. This was my background for developing the Funa Ride app and easing transportation a bit,” says Mugyenyi, the founder of Funa Ride.
Uganda has a multimodal transportation system which includes walking, biking, transit, rail, cars and trucks. With Funa Ride’s car sharing initiative, the drivers get to earn a bit of money from the passengers they pick up and drop along the route while the passengers get easy access to a quick mode of transport to their destination, eliminating the long wait for a taxi especially during peak hours.
The idea of car sharing, however, presented with a few security concerns.
“Times have changed as regards car sharing because of security issues. Unlike in the late 1990s and early 2000s when a car owner casually ferried pedestrians along their route, the rising cases of kidnap, theft among other security concerns have left traces of fear in people’s hearts. These days, the passenger is scared of the driver and the driver is suspicious of what kind of passenger they are picking up,” Mugyenyi said.
To counter this, the Funa Ride App was built with traceability functions that avail details of the car occupants such as the names of the passengers, their verified contact phone number, the time of pick up and drop off, all which give both parties a layer of security.
These technology tools are constantly revamped as the tech dynamics so require. For a passenger to be matched with a driver, their phone number must be verified as belonging to that particular individual, thanks to available data collected by telecommunication companies and the National ID system.
While easing transportation is Funa Ride’s main goal, the other benefits of car sharing transcend the confines of day-to-day commute worries; minimizing the number of cars on the road which in turn reduces vehicle emissions.
According to the 2021 World Air Quality Report, Uganda’s capital Kampala is one of the most polluted cities, with pollution levels up to seven times higher than the World Health Organisation’s safe standards. Vehicle emissions are a huge contributor to air pollution in Uganda.
The report also shows that around 28,000 people die each year in the country as a result of air pollution.
Mugyenyi says with the car sharing initiative, the number of cars headed in the same direction is reduced and this relatively reduces the traffic congestion as compared to when 20 people, headed in the same direction, drive each their own car.
As company created shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic, Funa Ride was bound to a slow start considering the movement restrictions the country introduced to counter the spread of the virus.
Mugyenyi notes, however, that through the lockdowns, people continued to download the app and learn about the services the company offered.
“This kept our dream and vision alive. The lockdown gave us time to do mistakes and correct them as regards the building of the app, uploading the system, tasting it and reviewing our clients’ responses. So much as people were stuck at home, we the developers were working. We didn’t allow the lockdown situation to hold us back. We were holding virtual meetings and creating something wholesome. We have actually carried on with the system of virtual meetings and remote operations,” she said.
Company, Driver relations
Drivers, as per the Funa Ride policy and setting, remit 10% of their earnings per client to the company coffers. The service is operational across Uganda which makes upcountry travel, especially for private car owners, a bit more rewarding since they can share costs with the travelers they pick along the route.
“Our service is not meant to make people rich because they probably won’t earn huge sums of money, we are simply helping people ease their transportation costs but still enjoy comfort and convenience,” she added.
“Drivers who register with us are required to curate their schedule; what day of the week and what time they will be moving so that the potential clients can match up their own for a streamlined operation,” she said.
According to Mugyenyi, the highlight of her innovation since the app’s official launch in July 2022 has been the overwhelming support people have given the initiative.
Business is looking up for Funa Ride; the company has since introduced other services such as fuel credit where drivers can access fuel on credit from select partner fuel stations, and pay later.
As a tech company, Funa Ride has also expanded their scope of service into software development, website building among other ICT services in partnership with other companies across the country and the East Africa region.
The team envisions serving a bigger number of people under various categories such as special hire drivers, long distance drivers among others. The company is also pitching partnerships with organisations to expand their fuel credit facility and grow the Funa Ride brand further.
