Uber is gone. Shuttlers wants Lagos commuters to share their next ride

Shuttlers, a Nigerian ride-sharing company, is set to introduce a new product called Shuttlers Pod. This new offering allows commuters to have a car pick them up directly from their homes, rather than having to walk to a bus stop. Co-founder and CEO Damilola Olokesusi explained that the company started with a door-to-door service, but switched to bus-stop-to-bus-stop model due to difficulty coordinating without technology.

After a few months, it became clear that the bus-stop model was not profitable, so Shuttlers returned to using buses on fixed routes with passengers meeting at designated stops. The company now operates over 430 buses daily across Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, completing more than 10 million journeys with this model. The new Shuttlers Pod service will be a more convenient option for commuters who have difficulty walking to bus stops, especially during flooding periods.

Pod will pick up to four passengers from their homes, one after the other, and drop each person at their own destination. Riders must book ahead and pay for at least two trips per week, with the fare varying depending on the number of people sharing the vehicle. Shuttlers sees Pod as an opportunity to attract new customers who pay for private rides in Lagos, now that Uber has exited the market.

However, former Uber CEO Laolu Onifade cautioned that the economics of a four-seat fixed-pay model may not be sustainable.