Yulu Deploys Safe Rider Program
Yulu started with a vision of creating sustainable mobility for the urban masses and decongesting our city roads. As we grew our operations across cities, we saw the enthusiasm of people towards trying our shared electric vehicles and creating a sustainable means of livelihood for themselves. A core segment of our users today are gig delivery workers. You must have ordered food or your daily essentials online, and seen our distinct blue e-bikes used by a lot of partners to deliver your orders.
These blue e-bikes have not only generated employment at the grass root level, but have also provided a livelihood option for many people who don’t own a driving license or have the necessary means to own their vehicles. Goods delivery is an essential service that keeps the urban economy humming. And in the last couple of years, Yulu has played an integral role in keeping this urban engine running. Today, these delivery partners are an important part of our journey and shared EVs are the entry point for many 1st-time vehicle riders into the city’s driving population.
As our “gig workers” user base grew, we observed that many delivery partners lack safe driving awareness and experience. Many of them are first-time vehicle riders, and lack in-depth knowledge of road rules and safe riding behavior, posing risks to themselves and others. And though these delivery partners are an integral part of the city’s lifestyle, they don’t have the substantial income to be repeatedly fined, or taken off the delivery roster. Hence, to bridge this gap, ‘Safe Rider’ program was designed and deployed.
Yulu has been proactive when it comes to bringing about small changes to make urban mobility seamless. Continuing the same trend, and seamlessly fulfil the ever-growing needs of our fast-growing cities, we have now conceptualized India’s 1st road safety certificate program for these delivery partners. Co-developed by the Traffic Training Road Safety Institute (TTRSI), Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) and Yulu, ‘Safe Rider’ is the first-of-its-kind program targeting this particular category of workers.
‘Safe Rider’ program is built on two fundamental tenets – prevention and education. Firstly, prevention is better than cure – following safety protocols reduce the chances of mishaps. Secondly, with education and training desired behavioral change can be brought about. The modules of this program touch comprehensively upon Traffic Engineering, Traffic Awareness, Signboard Education, Defensive Riding, and Road Rules and Regulations to provide the partners with a clear understanding of road safety and correct driving behavior.
‘Safe Rider’ program is solely aimed at building road safety awareness and education among these gig workers. To make this program extremely effective and useful, the multi-modules have been designed to be interactive and involve both classroom training as well as practical learning. The main objective of this simple and easy-to-understand ‘Safe Rider’ program is to reach people who are not fully aware of the road rules and safety risks and end up bearing the brunt of public anger. Our first event under this program was held in Bengaluru on 25th May, 2022, and saw participation by over 50 plus delivery partners from across the industry and various organizations.
We are hopeful that the ‘Safe Rider’ program will not only create an impact at the grass-root level but also pave the way for more such initiatives in the future. It will be an ongoing brand activity aimed to improve the safety of gig workers and everyone else on the road. This program is open to partners across the industry aligning with our main goal of providing an easy life to people who make our everyday lives easier.
This article was originally published by Yulu Bikes Pvt Ltd.
