Kiwi carpooling app Chariot slams pro-Trump rival Uber

Media release

Tuesday 31 January 2017

Kiwi carpooling app Chariot slams pro-Trump rival Uber

New Zealand-based social carpooling app Chariot is encouraging Kiwis to delete Uber to protest the ride-sharing company’s pro-Trump stance.

Many Americans have deleted Uber’s app from their mobile phones since its drivers lowered fares and took passengers during a one-hour taxi strike to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday evening (US time), uploading their criticisms on social media. The strike was a protest against newly-elected United States President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the country.

“New Zealand is a land of immigration and at Chariot, we welcome everyone, regardless of religion, culture or gender,” Chariot boss Thomas Kiefer says. "We also believe that genuine sharing - rather than profit creation - delivers better outcomes for drivers and passengers alike."

Uber’s co-founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick, is on Trump’s economic advisory group, a move which has prompted strong criticism against the company.

Kiefer says Kiwis can vote with their phones to show their opposition to Trump and Uberby deleting the Uber app and downloading Chariot as an alternative. The company is also offering a $10 ride credit to everyone (regardless of race or religion!) that downloads the app in February.

Chariot’s carpooling app, which can be downloaded free from Google Play and the iTunes App Store here, has attracted about 5000 users since its launch in New Zealand in mid-late 2016.

People can sign up to drive other passengers and get reimbursed for the trip’s costs or become passengers themselves. The app matches passengers with drivers along the same route, and fares are calculated on trip distance, mileage rate and fare zone. Fares are agreed between driver and passenger before any ride starts.

Kiefer says Chariot differs from other ride-sharing and carpool services in New Zealand because it is the only one used on smartphones which provides waypoint matching, and facilitates commuting as well as long-distance travel. It is also not profit-based, unlike Uber.

Currently, it operates mainly in Wellington and Auckland, but will expand throughout New Zealand this year.

“Our drivers are everyday people who have been verified and who are already driving in the same direction passengers are heading. We operate under a genuine cost-sharing arrangement, which means the cost of travel is split between the passengers and driver with a small service fee,” Kiefer says.

ENDS

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