New App Lets You Book A 'Vespa' For Your Next Ride
The newly launched ride-booking service, called Vesba, aims to fight Cairo's traffic by using scooters instead of cars.
Cairo traffic is no joke; research by the World Bank shows that the capital's congestion problem costs Egypt a whopping EGP 50 billion per year, with too many cars and not enough trains or buses, for the millions of desperate workers to commute every day. But what about motorcycles? The question set entrepreneur Mohamed Salah off on a quest.
His app, aptly named Vesba, is similar to car booking applications such as Uber and Careem, except their vehicles are Vespas and scooters. The app, which was released on July 1st, is currently in its beta phase and only available for Android on the Google Play Store and aims to provide a faster, cheaper alternative transportation.
In an intervew with Startup Scene, Salah explains what gave him the idea for the innovative app and his plans for expansion. “Last winter I worked in Smart Village. I live in Dokki, and I used to have to make the trip to and from the village every day. Traffic was always really bad on the way home, and it got me wondering, why isn’t there a faster way for me to commute than cars and public transportation? That's how I got the idea for Vesba.”
It wasn’t until the recent increase in gas prices that Salah decided it was time to make his idea a reality. “I asked around and found out that Vespas and scooters use much less gas than cars do, making them a much cheaper mode of transportation. And they are perfect for someone who commutes alone, like I used to.”
Vesba’s base fare starts at EGP 3, and charges EGP 1.10 per kilometer travelled. The app is currently available for use in all parts of Egypt, but the startup founder plans to expand to other countries in the the region in the future.
For more on Vesba, check out their Facebook page.
