Kiwi ride share company Zoomy to enter Christchurch market

Monday, 22 October 2018

Zoomy chief executive James Fisk says Zoomy will be in Christchurch in time for the cricket season.

Competition is heating up between Christchurch ride share companies after New Zealand based Zoomy announced it was coming to Christchurch.

Zoomy is a New Zealand company which started in 2016. It will be the second company looking to take a chunk out of Uber's domination in the Garden City in recent months.

India-based Ola, which operates in India, the UK and Australia, announced in September it intended to enter New Zealand. Ola has been registering drivers for several weeks but does not have a date for when it will start taking trips in Christchurch yet.

The move is likely to be good for drivers, who can sign up for all three companies, and customers, who will be able to choose the lowest fare at the time. But it is yet to be seen whether the Christchurch market is big enough to support all three companies long-term.

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Zoomy director Ben Unger said the company had signed up 300 drivers since September, but could not provide a launch date as there was still work ongoing to 'make sure everything was aligned'.

He said Zoomy had always followed a 'conservative path' of making sure it could service a market before it launched.

Uber says it welcomes competition because 'it keep us focused on delivering the very best product and customer experience'.

'Unlike some of our competitors, it is important to us to add value and not just launch in the interests of being everywhere all at once.'

India-based ride share company Ola is recruiting drivers in Christchurch and is expected to launch soon. (file photo)

Unger said Christchurch differed from Auckland or Wellington by having a 'much smaller' pool of drivers and riders tending to take shorter trips, resulting in a lower fare.

'In Auckland we started in the CBD only, and then expanded into other suburbs as drivers joined us. I don't think we can do that in Christchurch.'

Unger said Christchurch Airport recently changing their rules around ride sharing was important to Zoomy as a great deal of trips were to or from airports. Uber recently reached an agreement allowing their drivers to make pick-ups from the airport.

Zoomy chief executive James Fisk said the company was looking forward to 'shaking things up in Christchurch'. He claimed the company differentiated itself with how it treated its drivers.

Driver conditions is a known issue for those working for ride share companies, with some Kiwi Uber drivers claiming they earn less than minimum wage after expenses.

An Uber spokeswoman said Uber welcomed competition because 'it keeps us focused on delivering the very best product and customer experience'.

She said Uber had been very pleased by 'ongoing growth' in Christchurch since it began operating there in March 2016.

An Ola spokesman said the company thought both customers and drivers had limited options to choose between in Christchurch. He said Ola had a history of creating viable ride-sharing marketplaces at scale, a 'core requirement for efficiency and economic viability'.

'Ola is working with local and national governments to provide technology and innovation for better transport infrastructure in New Zealand.'