Global mobility and urban services platform inDrive, which launched in South Florida in July, has expanded its offerings in the region. Passengers will now have a vehicle class option when selecting their ride, choosing between the inDrive class and inDrive XL.
The inDrive platform operates by allowing passengers and drivers to negotiate the price of a drive via the app. The US manager of inDrive, Adam Warner, has said that this offers freedom of choice and fairness to both passengers and drivers. In this model, a passenger inputs their pickup and dropoff locations and a proposed price for the route; beginning now, they will also input a vehicle class for four-seater vehicles (the inDrive class) or six-seater vehicles (the inDrive XL) class.
The app will then present drivers that either agree to these conditions or make a counteroffer. The app also displays the driver rating and vehicle model, as well as the car type. Car types include Comfort, Comfort EV, Premium, Premium EV, Comfort XL, Premium XL, and Premium XL EV. Given this information, customers select from the offered transportation options. Since launching in July, drivers in South Florida have kept 100% of their commission, a growth-focused policy that continues through 2023.
“Since launching in July, there’s been strong adoption among consumers, beating our expectations,” Adam Warner has said. “As we continue to familiarize ourselves with the diverse cities across South Florida, we look forward to integrating our offerings into the community and creating alternative mobility and transportation options for tourists and locals alike. Whether a rider prefers comfort, luxury, or EVs, we can now serve all rides of up to six passengers with the addition of XL vehicles.”
The inDrive platform has also been expanding other urban services, such as intercity transportation, freight delivery, task assistance, courier delivery, and employment search. This represents a continued investment in the South Florida region.
The platform is a relatively recent arrival to the US Market. It was originally founded in 2012 in Yakutsk, Russia, as a collective of “independent drivers” responding to a local increase in taxi prices. From there, it rapidly expanded, first into Kazakhstan and then largely into Latin America and Southwest Asia. The company first established an office in the US in 2018, positioning itself in California, from which it began to prepare to launch its platform throughout the US.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inDrive pulled out of the Russian market, and the company is now primarily headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Throughout this process, the company has become a large-scale global success. inDrive currently operates throughout more than 40 countries and has been downloaded more than 175 million times. On a global scale, inDrive is the second-most downloaded rideshare app.
The inDrive company chose South Florida as its first US launch territory due to the desire among the region’s residents to have new transport options. Adam Warner has said that the ability for passengers to negotiate prices is a major appeal in that region due to the increasingly high prices set by other ride-share services. According to reports, inDrive had more than five thousand US drivers registered ahead of its South Florida launch, a number that has since grown significantly. The expansion of the business and its services in South Florida demonstrates the platform’s success.
