Citymapper smart bus: transport app launches London ride-sharing initiative

The transport app Citymapper has revealed it is launching a new on-demand ride-sharing service: the Citymapper smart bus.

Launched this week, Citymapper is now running a fleet of eight-seater minibuses. It works much as a traditional bus does, picking up its passengers and dropping them off at fixed points on a road network. However, it insists there is a “smart” aspect to the new service, as the rides are on-demand, responding to orders by Citymapper passengers.

The Citymapper smart bus is starting with a free trial in central London. The trial will be operating in Euston, St Paul’s and Blackfriars.

However, the company has big plans for the service. Citymapper has a license for up to 500 bus drivers, who will be self-employed and operate their own vehicles.

Omid Ashtari, the startup's president and head of business, said the Citymapper smart bus service will be extending soon.

“We believe in the future of shared transportation in cities, there is no way we’re going to solve for congestion and pollution otherwise,” Ashtari told the Guardian.

How will the Citymapper smart bus work?

In a similar way to Uber, passengers can connect their credit card to the Citymapper app. When they’re in the same area as the smart bus’s network, they can place an order on the app and the bus will pick them up at a fixed route.

At the moment, it’s unclear how much each journey will cost. Citymapper says it will be “in between a bus and a cab”.

What about the Citymapper Night Rider?

Following a trial last May, Citymapper launched its Night Rider, a commercial bus route in East London. The company analysed transport data to discover that the route from Highbury and Islington to Aldgate East was underserved by current transport networks.

The Night bus operates at £1.50 a journey.

Citymapper hasn’t announced any plans to remove the Night Rider service. However, the Night Tube network now includes this route on the Overground, which may eat into the number of passengers using Night Rider.

Uber vs Citymapper

With the launch of the Citymapper smart bus, it looks like the transport startup is hoping to compete directly with Uber.

Just this week, Uber has launched Uber Express Pool in the US. It’s hoping to be a cheaper version of its UberPool service, which sees a few riders matched up with one driver.

When a passenger selects Express Pool, they will be asked to wait a few minutes to match with a driver. Uber’s algorithm will be working to find the different drivers as well as additional riders looking to go on a similar route.

Then riders will be matched with a driver and they will have to walk a few blocks to a pickup location.

Uber is still battling with London’s regulators so it’s unlikely Uber will launch Express Pool in the UK anytime soon. However, if it does, there could be some serious competition between the Citymapper smart bus and the US company.