Taxi Driver Online

Uber to face competition in Southampton as Bolt launches ride-hailing service ahead of Easter weekend

The UK's second largest ride-hailing app company has announced that it will begin operating in a Hampshire city later this week. Bolt has revealed that it will be starting services in Southampton ahead of the Easter weekend.

From Wednesday (April 13), residents will be able to use Bolt in the city. The company already operates in nearby Portsmouth and across the UK has more than 65,000 drivers and four million passengers.

Bolt has said it hopes its launch will ultimately provide residents a safe, reliable and affordable way to get around, from Shirley to St Mary’s and Woolston to the Westquay, whilst also helping reduce the need for personal vehicle ownership. Uber already operates in the city as well as the app Holler which connects taxis firms with passengers.

As part of the launch, passengers will have the chance to receive up to £8 off their first Bolt ride. Passengers can enter the following code into the Promotions section of the Bolt App: SOTON* when they launch - no minimum spend is necessary but you must be a first time Bolt user. Drivers also signing up before April 20 will only pay 7.5% commission for the first month, rising to 15% after that.

Founded in 2013, Bolt runs a range of mobility services across Europe, with the aim of offering a better alternative to every purpose a private car serves, be it short or long distance, travel or delivery. The company runs its ride-hailing services in 17 cities across the UK and is keen to launch some of its other products within the app this year.

Josh Ryan, country manager, UK Rides at Bolt said: "Our latest launch in Southampton is hugely exciting for us as it adds another community to our south coast services. We’re committed to offering passengers a great service, as well as drivers the most competitive commission rates. Bolt’s mission is to make cities work better for the people that live in them, keeping residents connected to the places and people they love.

"We hope to be a great addition to the local community helping everyone get around: whether it’s getting Saints fans to games, students to nightclubs and home, and holidaymakers to and from the airport."

Following other recent launches across the UK in Portsmouth, Bristol, Bath and Cardiff, Bolt’s latest expansion on the south coast takes the ride-hailing app a step closer to being available in at least 20 UK cities by the end of the year.

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IDFIMH

It will be the SAME drivers as already drive PH in the city who will be tempted by their bonus payments in Peterborough the drivers are falling over themselves to sign up as they are paying £130 bonus if you show up to work between 5 and 9 enough days (not sure if it's 5 or 6 days to qualify) I am told nearly 50 percent of drivers who work Stamford are all signed up but of course bolt don't operate here


My question is if they are paying all these large bonuses how is their business model viable ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Do these have an operators license for the areas they claim to operate in?

It's not, none of them have viable business models, and if any of them ever did then a new entrant would join the party and they would spend millions/billions to gain market share.

This would then mean the existing apps would have to keep fares low else they would lose market share.

The only winners are the punters getting the start bonuses, and drivers until the start bonuses dry up.

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IDFIMH

I believe so.

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IDFIMH

I disagree a business like this can lose money for 100 years as long as they keep growing investors won't care as growth means their investment is also growing in value

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

But even after 100 years of loss, as soon as they start making money someone else will come along and undercut them for the next 100 years, and on and on it will go.

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IDFIMH

In the final analysis, business valuations depend on profits, or the expectation of future profits.

It's very like the dot com boom, which of course eventually all came tumbling down.

But it's essentially like hackney plates, and they were bought on the expectation of a certain level of future profitability. But now that's been undermined for various reasons, and plates have reduced in value significantly.

And indeed the app market is very competitive (or 'contestable', I think the economists would call it), but again valuations depend on the brand maybe establishing some sort of dominant position in the market.

Which has obviously happened with mainstream cab firms and brands, so why not apps?

The market is obviously fast-moving and in a state of flux, but it's probable that some brands will attain profitability, while others won't. Otherwise, there would never be any successful brands or businesses anywhere in the economy.