Getting from place to place in Ukraine is now easier. By connecting drivers who have empty seats with passengers going to the same destination, BlaBlaCar, a Paris-based ride-sharing network, already has 250,000 registered members in its first three months of operation in Ukraine.
Experts told the Kyiv Post that the idea of low-cost travel over long distances, costing as little as Hr 120 and averaging nearly 300 kilometers, without the need to rent or own a car is catching on.
“It’s twice cheaper than taking my own car or using public transportation,” said Maria Tkachenko, a project coordinator for a German company who wants to use the car service. A round-trip train ticket to Odesa, for example, costs nearly Hr 600, whereas it costs Hr 150 with BlaBlaCar to drive there one-way. And it is much faster – nearly five hours instead of seven by train. “And I could have a rest because I’m not in the driver’s seat,” she added.
One of the most popular destinations is driving from Kyiv to Lviv, said Alexei Lazorenko, BlaBlaCar’s head in Ukraine and Russia, noting that the trip usually costs Hr 150-180.
The company’s entry into Ukraine also signals the advent of what economists call “collaborative consumption.” Owners rent or share something they are not using for a price, such as a car, house, high-end camera or even bicycle using peer-to-peer services.
Meanwhile, technology has helped spur the popularity of such transactions by creating connections through mobile phone applications or websites.
Yet not everyone is keen on sharing a car with complete strangers. Some people simply don’t trust such services because of the safety risk.
Although Iryna Tsarenko, a personal assistant at an international supplier of grain storage equipment, thinks ride-sharing has a promising future, she is worried about the safety of traveling with strangers. “To be honest you should be careful, human trafficking has not stopped, and this service is suitable for it,” Tsarenko warns.
However, BlaBlaCar says that it checks and verifies user information. Another important aspect is an evaluation that allows passengers to rate their trips with drivers, much like users of the CouchSurfing service rate their hosts who opened up their homes for guest stays.
“All registered users have their own rating. The higher the rating…the easier to match a driver to a passenger and for a passenger to find a driver. Many self-community services work with the same principles such as Airbnb, GetTaxi, Uber,” Lazorenko said.
Other popular destinations are from Kyiv to Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa, or from Donetsk to Kyiv. Abroad, Belarus and Poland remain popular and travel to Western Europe is increasing, he said.
Operating in 12 countries, BlaBlaCar on July 2 raised $100 million from Index Ventures Fund to develop services in Ukraine and Russia.
Its presence, as well as other car services like Lyft, Uber and Get Taxi, has caused a backlash from taxi and other transportation companies. The Spanish government warned members of Lyft that they face a fine of €600, drivers €6,000, and repeat offenders €18,000. The company also faces opposition from New York City’s tax regulator. The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission warned potential Lyft drivers that they face the possibility of car confiscation and fines of up to $2,000.
But in Ukraine, the situation is different. Andriy Antonjuk, chairman of the Ukrainian Taxi Association says: “We do not want our jobs stolen by illegal taxis or citizens. But the influence on the Ukrainian taxi market will be minimal. Nearly 85 percent of the taxi market across the country operates in the shadows; in Kyiv, it is almost 95 percent. The illegal annual turnover of the taxi business is nearly Hr 20 billion, in Kyiv it is Hr 2.5 billion.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Iana Koretskaya can be reached at [email protected].
