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Bolt Marks More Than 400 Million Trips in South Africa Since Its 2016 Launch
Bolt has just hit a huge milestone in South Africa, they’ve completed more than 400 million trips since they started back in 2016. This is a big deal because it shows just how much people are using their service, making Bolt one of the biggest ride-hailing platforms in the whole continent.
According to Simo Kalajdzic, Bolt’s Senior Operations Manager, about 1.4 million people take rides using Bolt every month. They’re backed by over 40,000 active drivers all across South Africa, operating in every single one of the nine provinces and in 23 cities. That kind of reach shows how much they’ve grown since launching nearly a decade ago.
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This announcement comes at a time when Bolt is adjusting to some new e-hailing rules from the National Department of Transport. These new regulations bring some changes, like licensing fees for the platform and its drivers, as well as a requirement for physical panic buttons in every e-hailing vehicle.
For instance, Bolt now has to pay a R5,000 licensing fee every seven years to keep their platform running legally. Meanwhile, drivers need to get operating licenses that cost about R1,000 each. To help with this, Bolt plans to support drivers by offering free vehicle branding for those who want it, which should help cut down their costs a bit.
The new rules also say e-hailing cars must be easy to spot, but they don’t have to show the company name. Drivers can put their own branding on their cars, as long as they meet the identification rules.
One of the most significant changes is the demand for physical panic buttons in every ride. Bolt is teaming up with a private armed response company to work out how to install these buttons in thousands of cars. This is all about making rides safer for both passengers and drivers.
Bolt is also running workshops with the Department of Transport to guide drivers through these new rules and offer support during the changes. Many drivers are still getting used to the new licensing fees and the vehicle branding requirements.
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The reason for all these new rules is to make the e-hailing industry safer and to make sure drivers are easier to identify. Bolt believes that having clearer car markings and panic buttons will make a real difference as these regulations start to take effect.
After completing over 400 million trips and serving millions of users every month, Bolt’s future in South Africa will depend a lot on how quickly drivers adapt to these changes and how Bolt manages to meet all the new compliance requirements in the cities where they operate.
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