Skip to main content

Ugandan start-up ride-sharing app aims to improve road safety

Ugandan start-up SafeBoda has launched a ride sharing app, which it claims offers 20,000 safe boda rides per day. Bodas are a common form of motorcycle taxi, providing a popular mode of transport in Uganda and Kenya where the transit infrastructure is less developed. Cheap and efficient, they are able to move around the traffic congestion. However, with little or no formal training required, many accidents and deaths are caused by unsafe boda drivers. SafeBoda, started by a group including former bod
February 9, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Ugandan start-up SafeBoda has launched a ride sharing app, which it claims offers 20,000 safe boda rides per day.

Bodas are a common form of motorcycle taxi, providing a popular mode of transport in Uganda and Kenya where the transit infrastructure is less developed. Cheap and efficient, they are able to move around the traffic congestion. However, with little or no formal training required, many accidents and deaths are caused by unsafe boda drivers.

SafeBoda, started by a group including former boda drivers, aims to change all that by providing their drivers with helmets for the drivers and their passengers, as well as a personalised reflective jacket for each driver to improve visibility and safety. The company also ensures that the motorcycles are well-maintained.

Drivers are also provided with training and must commit to SafeBoda’s driver code of conduct, which focuses on customer service, traffic rules, road safety and bike maintenance. All SafeBoda drivers also undergo Uganda Red Cross certification, including training in road safety awareness and basic first aid.

Certified drivers are listed on SafeBoda’s app, where customers can order a taxi and are told which driver will pick them up. Customers can also rate the driver for safe driving and customer service via the app.

Related Content

  • Huawei gets on board with Moovit app
    October 19, 2020
    Chinese telecoms giant’s AppGallery has 465 million monthly users, company says
  • Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe and ViaVan launch on-demand ridesharing service
    January 3, 2018
    Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and ViaVan, a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via have launched a two-year project to create an on-demand ridesharing service in Berlin with routes that can be adapted by its passengers, in Spring 2018. The pilot aims to reduce congestion through deploying 50 Mercedes-Benz vehicles with plans to expand the fleet to 300. Public acceptance of the scheme will also be assessed. Each journey starts and ends at a virtual stop which is shared with other passengers.
  • Chicago pop-up lanes keep buses moving 
    September 29, 2020
    Two 24-hour dedicated routes support essential workers, says CDoT
  • Tolling system interoperability gains momentum
    August 14, 2012
    Efforts to advance national interoperability for tolling systems are gaining momentum, with one protocol promoted by a key operator group emerging as a candidate to form the basis for full AVI interoperability, Tim McGuckin writes. Fuelled by a growing awareness and acceptance of standards-based solutions, the US toll community is quickening towards the goal of interoperability between toll systems across the US. Over 20 years since the advent of electronic toll collection (ETC), key elements are falling in