Most of e-hailing company Bolt’s riders in South Africa are women, particularly those between the ages of 25 and 34.
The company presented insights from its first Ride-Hailing Safety Index Report, compiled with research firm Ipsos, at a media briefing on Wednesday in Johannesburg.
Ipsos strategy director Soyinka Witness said the research was conducted in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana to unpack dynamics and views in the different markets. He said the study explored perceptions of safety across factors including:
- driver trust;
- in-app security features;
- vehicle conditions; and
- contextual factors such as late-night or possibly post-event travel.
The study also assessed the role of ride-hailing in reducing risks such as drunk driving when compared with traditional transport modes.
Stephanie Kanyiri, who works for Ipsos, said the survey targeted active ride-hailing customers, with 250 completed interviews in South Africa drawn from major urban centres such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria.
Seventy-three percent mentioned that convenience tops for them, followed by affordability at 44%, with riders seeing e-hailing as a cheaper and more predictable alternative to car ownership or traditional taxis
— Stephanie Kanyiri, Ipsos
“According to the findings, ride-hailing use is largely driven by women, who account for 70%, with most users being young adults aged between 25 and 34,” she said.
Kanyiri said convenience emerged as the strongest motivation for choosing an e-hailing service.
“Seventy-three percent mentioned that convenience tops for them, followed by affordability at 44%, with riders seeing e-hailing as a cheaper and more predictable alternative to car ownership or traditional taxis. Ninety-two percent of South African ride-hailing passengers feel safer using ride-hailing apps when travelling late at night,” she said, citing features such as:
- driver identification;
- GPS tracking; and
- door-to-door rides.
The survey also shows that 93% of ride-hailing passengers have booked a ride-hailing trip for someone else.
On the question of drunk-driving, Ipsos found three in four South African riders believe e-hailing helps, but some noted the effect “depends” on circumstances.
One respondent said: “Sometimes drunk people don’t budget it in.”
Another added: “If the person is too intoxicated, they won’t usually think as far as to budget for a ride.”
Across all measured transport modes, Kanyiri said more than three-quarters of South African passengers consider ride-hailing safer than other transport options, with many pointing to driver identification and live tracking as key reassurances.
“Real-time GPS accounted for 66%, trip sharing for 64% and driver verification for 61% ... 96% agree these features make ride-hailing a safer travel option overall.”
‘Superman is not real’ feature
Bolt’s senior operations manager Simo Kalajdzic said the company sees safety as its biggest priority in South Africa, one of its fastest-growing markets.
“Bolt South Africa has just over 1.4-million active customers, more than 40,000 active driver-partners and has completed more than 400-million trips since launch in 2016,” he said.
Kalajdzic said Bolt is increasing its driver-verification checks after incidents where drivers have handed their profiles to other people.
“As soon as the driver is onboarded, before they do that first trip, there is a selfie check they need to go through. Then in terms of frequency, our standard can be triggered any time between four hours and 24 hours.”
Kalajdzic said if the system detects suspicious behaviour, such as sudden location changes, checks become more frequent.
“We call that the ‘Superman is not real’ feature because you essentially need to be Superman if you’re going to travel in 10 minutes from Randburg to Sandton. If we detect profile-sharing, the account will be permanently blocked.”
“We are also speaking to better understand how we roll out these physical panic buttons in all our vehicles and ensure that these are all attached to one sole service provider. We don’t want to be in the case where one vehicle has three different types of panic buttons.”
Bolt is also testing additional tools, including in-vehicle cameras, as part of a broader plan to strengthen safety beyond the mobile device.
After the recent gazetting of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, which officially recognised e-hailing as part of South Africa’s public transport system, Kalajdzic said Bolt is working with its drivers to ensure they meet the compliance deadline given by the department of transport.
“We are also working closely with the department in workshops. To date we’ve had workshops in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban — and we are going to continue to the rest of our provinces.”
Asked about the department’s new operating licence requirements, including a R5,000 licence fee, Kalajdzic said the company is aware of affordability concerns. The R5,000 licence fee is not a driver onus as it’s paid by the company, he said.
Bolt will also brand their drivers’ cars for free, as per the government’s instruction that the vehicles must be identifiable — provided the vehicle meets the regulation standards and if the driver wants to get their vehicle branded.
For added protection, he said Bolt has partnered with a private armed-response security company that is dedicated to the in-app SOS button. “We are also speaking to better understand how we roll out these physical panic buttons in all our vehicles and ensure that these are all attached to one sole service provider. We don’t want to be in the case where one vehicle has three different types of panic buttons.”
Bolt and Ipsos said the findings will guide future improvements to the platform and more detailed studies, including a driver-focused survey.
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