SAM, the Dhaka-based bike-sharing startup, has announced a women-only bike-sharing service called Pink SAM in response to a gap in the market for a safe option for women riders. The ladies only service aims to tackle the safety problem that women have continued to face in Dhaka due to public transport crisis.
The company says the service will only be available to women riders. The company is currently registering women bikers for the service. This will be the first such service in Dhaka specifically targeted towards a group of users.
It costs you 60 taka for first three kilometers and per kilometer fare is 12 taka.
Why it matters: Dhaka’s ride-hailing space has become super competitive in the recent months. There are now over 9 active players. The industry has grown pretty fast and many people see huge scope for growth in the space. This has inspired a kind of hyper-competition among the leading players. While an increasing number of people are using the service, promo-code continues to dictate the growth. Companies like Pathao and Uber are spending heftily to attract both bikers and riders.
As a mode of transportation motor-bike is not a favorite option for many people. Despite people are adopting the mode at an increasing rate, largely because transportation is such a mass in Dhaka. Having said that, it is safe to bet that finding women bikers and women bike riders will be a tall order. While it may be easier to attract some early adopters, but it will be a real challenge to scale it.
However, even if Pink SAM does not scale at the end of the day, this has already served the purpose for SAM which has been trying to get some attention in the Uber-Pathao duopoly in the ride-hailing market.
The company has been able to create a meaningful buzz with the Pink SAM launch, it has been featured by some of the leading news media, and successfully break into the conversation and stand out positively. Users have also taken notice of the innovative approach of the company. This itself is a good result for SAM.
Cover Image: SAM Facebook Page
