We’ve always seen and read about the tension between taxi associations and the Bolt services.
The only issue is competition, the idea that e-hailing services such as Bolt are stealing taxi associations’ customers.
Today, I want to show you the costs of riding with Bolt compared to normal taxis. And why people in South Africa don’t mind paying for the Bolt service fees.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Convenience
People had been using taxis for a long time until the ehailing services hit the market and disrupted the taxi industry.
Why do people who’ve been using taxis to move around the country suddenly want to use the Bolt service?
The answer: Convenience!
I’ve personally used taxis from my childhood to being an adult.
First, you would have to get out of your home to go hike at the main roads in order to find taxis to work or anywhere else.
Sometimes, you’d have to go to the taxi rank and wait for the taxi to be filled with full capacity before it takes off to your city.
When you get home, it drops you off at the main road and you’d have to walk from there to your house.
Not so convenient but been the accepted way of travelling until Bolt started operating in South Africa.
On the other side, Bolt picks you up at your doorstep and drops you off at the doorstep of your destination.
No more walking to the taxi rank, on rainy days and getting to work later than planned.
The Costs of Riding Compared
A lot of people seem to think Bolt is a bit expensive compared to using taxis.
It’s sort of true and false, depending on how you look at it.
Let’s take a look at an example.
A woman who works at Greenstone from Alexandra in Johannesburg pays R18.00 per trip to work every day.
But that’s not all, she also has to take a local taxi to the rank for R10.00.
So, in total she pays R28.00 (R56.00) per return trip to work every day.
It sounds cheaper than it actually is, and this is what I meant by it just depends on how strategic you are.
On the other hand, Bolt charges you between R48.00 to R54.00 per trip to Greenstone Mall from Alex. Obviously with added services such as picking you up at the gate to the gate of the mall.
Now:
This woman works with many other people from Alexandra, that clocks at work at the same time.
If you think about it, they could actually save a lot of money with Bolt vs the amount they pay at the taxis.
The four of them can get together and use Bolt to actually travel conveniently to work every day. They’ll each contribute R13.50 for a single Bolt trip of R54.00 to Greenstone Mall.
With that, they could’ve saved R14.50 per day with Bolt.
That’s how we would have compared the costs of riding the taxis vs Bolt in South Africa. However, this just depends on how you look at it and what’s convenient for you.
