Uber's rival in China Didi Chuxing has launched The Didi Bus, which is an Internet-based bus-booking service.
Didi Chuxing (formerly Didi Kuaidi) has officially announced that the new service will also be integrated in its main app. Didi also has online car-booking license in China and the company says that it is planning to expand the services beyond cars and buses.
Didi estimates that the public bus market in China is worth about $16 billion. Didi Kuaidi users will be able to search for bus routes, initiate new routes and book tickets via the main app.
"This new fully integrated solution further expands Didi Kuaidi's one-stop mobile transportation platform that already provides taxi-hailing, online car-booking, chauffeur and ride-sharing services," per a Didi statement.
The service was tested on WeChat in Shenzhen and Beijing in July this year. The test was targeted at professional commuters who were between the age of 20 and 40 years.
During the test, Didi ran about 1,500 bus rides each day over about 700 routes. Didi claims that the trial witnessed 80 percent retention rate and the company already has more than 500,000 users.
Didi is also planning to increase its services in more cities and on more routes with the motive to supplementing prevailing public transportation services.
Even though Didi indicates that it has already claimed thousands of users, the service may not be preferred by price sensitive commuters. The Didi Bus charges commuters nearly three to five times more than regular public transport available in China. Foreign tourists may pay more for rides but daily commuters may not take The Didi Bus.
The buses used by Didi will also offer Wi-Fi to users. The routes are also designed in a way to service longer commutes like those from airports to city centers and also to tourist destinations.
Didi is also planning to offer customized services to other companies such as Huawei and Lenovo so that their employees can comfortably commute from their home to office.
Photo: Thomas Sauzedde | Flickr
