Free Now, European leader in multimodal mobility services, said it expects to double its operations in Romania in 2022, amid “a favourable development in ride-hailing” and “a dynamic recovery in this sector after the pandemic.”

According to company statistics, the platform has reached 54 million users in all countries where it operates.

Among the 170 European cities where the app is available, Bucharest ranked eighth in 2021 in terms of the number of rides, the company also said. A total distance of almost 24 million kilometres was travelled in Romania, “equivalent to 62 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.” The average value of a trip was about RON 17, and the average distance was just over 5 km.

According to its recent Mobility as a Service (MaaS) report, Free Now recorded a growing demand for greener mobility options and saw users switching away from traditional combustion engines. The number of trips taken using electric vehicles has significantly increased across Europe by 79%. In Romania alone, the average number of electric vehicle rides increased by 15% in 2021 compared to 2020.

For 2022, Free Now estimates that ride-hailing will recover and will soon return to pre-pandemic levels. In addition, more and more users are opting for solutions that help reduce CO2 emissions, pointing to the transition to electric vehicles in the taxi and ride-hailing fleet.

Free Now is a multi-mobility platform backed by BMW Group and Daimler AG. In addition to ride-hailing, the company also offers micro-mobility services such as e-scooters, e-bikes, e-mopeds, and car-sharing.

In Romania, Free Now has been offering ridesharing and taxi services since November 2019. The app is currently available to passengers in 9 cities: Bucharest, Cluj, Brasov, Iasi, Constanta, Sibiu, Oradea, Timisoara and Targu Mures.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Pixabay.com)