Goa Miles seems like the answer to the prayers of the thousands of commuters in Goa, who lack transport and prefer travelling around the state in a cab.

For the most part, travellers and locals alike, making their way to and around Goa were greatly inconvenienced by cabs who were charging them exorbitant amounts to travel short distances. A drop from the Dabolim airport to the state capital which is about 25 km away used to be charged at more than Rs. 1000 before the app. Furthermore, companies like Ola and Uber who were doing quite well in many parts of India tried to enter the Goan market. However, they were unsuccessful since there were protests, objection by the ‘Goa taxi driver association’, and strikes throughout the state.

Many taxi drivers and locals still believe the app is a little harsh on drivers and could cause them to significantly lose out on business. There was some resistance this time too, however, the Government didn’t budge on their stance and the app was released despite everything.

Some app developers felt that the app should have been developed in Goa and not outsourced to Pune since the ministers are constantly bragging about the IT talent that Goa as a state possesses, and talking about building better IT infrastructure, or turning it into an IT hub.

Overall the app seems to be solving the issues of a lot of the people who were waiting for an alternative to travelling in Goa. The current public transport system is not the best with irregular buses that stop at odd hours. Goa miles has a few more miles to cover before turning into the next Uber or Ola, but cheaper taxi rides across Goa was what the app was looking to handle, and they definitely delivered.

Tags: app launch, Goa, goa miles, ola, taxi service, uber