Introduction.

Transportation system of a country is considered as the backbone for economic sustainability

and growth. When we talk about the transportation, it includes the entire system of public
transport, private transport, & goods and logistic transport. Public transport system is always
a concern when it comes to city transport management along with traffic management and
energy consumption. Meanwhile, emission control and energy consumption management has
become the talk of every town after the world has started depleting with natural fuels.

In a developing country like Pakistan, whose energy requirements are heavily dependent on
Oil and Gas import is always struggling to get a solution through which they can control the
energy consumption. Another factor which should be taken into account is traffic congestion
on roads all over the world and the solution which experts have suggested is to control the
private vehicles and using public transport or ride-hailing services. In simple words, ride-
hailing is a type of transport service in which customers are allowed to hire drivers to get
them to destination through online platforms. In many of the developing countries the
requirements of good and accommodative transport are rising where the available transport
system is unable to cater the requirements of uncontrolled and increasing population.

The concept of ride-hailing or ride-sharing services is quite old, back in 1970 the terms which
was widely using for these types of services is carpooling which was started to overcome the
energy and oil crises at that time. Furthermore, if we go back in the time of World War 1
when the economy of America was going down private car owners have started these services
to people and offering the seats in car. With the passage of time and with integration of
technologies, these services are now referred as ride-sharing or ride-hailing services and this
has become a fast growing and interesting business. In last two decades, these ride-hailing
services business has expended world-wide. Some of the market players in this business have
made their international presences like Didi, Uber, Careem, BlablaCar, SWVL and Lyft.

These services are operated when the passengers, drivers and service providers are linked
with a specific applications on smart phones. Different research studies have shown that the
concept and services of these ride-hailing business is very well established and used in
western-world. But now they are making their presence in other parts of world where
population is dense and the facilities are very low. These players and many startups have hit
the markets of Pakistan, India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and many other developing
countries to get the benefits of early entrants.

In Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan, demands of transit have increased a lot as the
populations are growing. Due to industrializations, a lot of people from the vicinities of
metropolitans travel within city. Islamabad for a very long time was known as the city of
Cabs until the government has taken several steps to upgrade the in-city transit and travelling
structure. In last three decades, several solutions was designed and implemented by the
governments to meet the demands of public transport either in the form of Inter-city bus
service through private service providers or introducing metro bus service structure in last
few years. Still the demand and supply gaps are not filling. Considering this opportunity, few
private international ride-hailing service providers like SWVL and Airlift have started their
app-based services in Pakistan especially in Islamabad to fulfil the requirements of travelers.

The organization which I have opted for this transformation project is SWVL which is a
smartphone app-based ride-hailing service startup in Pakistan. SWVL was founded in 2017
in Cairo and started their operations in Pakistan in early 2019. SWVL headquarters are now
in Dubai. SWVL, introduce themselves as a premium but private alternative of public
transport. The service enables the travelers to book their seat in a bus or a van through mobile
application and get the pick and drop services on specified points. Just like the other online
cab services, a traveler can also track the buses’ locations in real time and the services are
very cheap as compare to online or private cab services.

For my business transformation project, I have selected this topic because as resident of
Islamabad and being student, I am facing the issues like Traffic congestions on road,
increasing prices of fuel and wastage of time in finding parking spots. Islamabad is the capital
of Pakistan with a population of 1.2 million people. The city is heavily relying on Metro bus
service, local cabs and private cars for their daily travel. About a year ago, a ride-hailing
service has started their operation in Islamabad under the name of SWVL but the market is
very vast and there is a need to expand the business model to manage the needs of city
population.

One of the reasons for selecting this transformation project is the hassle we face on daily
basis due to traffic congestion on roads. The reason is very obvious, as the public transport
system which is metro bus service operating in Islamabad is very limited as compare to the
population who are using it and covering only around 20% of Islamabad city. Other areas and
vicinities are still deprived of such facility. Due to this limited facility, majority of Islamabad
resident are using their private cars/vehicles for their daily commute which is causing a heavy
traffic congestion on roads and it is increasing day by day. If a practical and proper
solution/system is provided to these people in terms of ride-hailing services I am sure that
half of the people who are using their private transport for daily traveling will switch to this
ride-hailing service.

The second reason behind selecting this project is the fuel price hike factor which is hitting
hard to people in their daily expenses and this business transformation project can solve the
problem in two ways. Firstly, if the travelers start using a ride-hailing service for their daily
commute they can save a major amount of traveling cost which they are currently spending
on fuel of their private vehicles. Secondly, when the travelers will switch to these ride-hailing
services. It will certainly reduce the traffic congestion on roads and the fuel which is wasted
due to this slow-moving traffic and even in traffic jams will also be saved. Another factor to
be kept in mind is the hassle of finding a parking spot for vehicle, if the travelers will start
sharing rides, there will be few cars on roads and the hassle to firstly find the parking spot
and the time wasted during this can be saved too.

Study Aim.

The aim of this business transformation project is to introduce a smart, practical and
sustainable ride-hailing service in Islamabad-Pakistan. This study will also focus on the
importance of ride-hailing services, traveler’s constraints, requirements and attitude and will
also look for the impact a proper ride-hailing service and make for the problems of traffic
congestion in Islamabad. Our hypothesis is that, ride-hailing services are fast growing and
provide better mode of daily transportation system.

Study Objectives.

This business transformation project will be focusing on following research objectives.

 To explore the importance of ride-hailing services introduction in Islamabad.

 To explore the traveler’s requirements and attitude towards ride-hailing
services.
 To analyze the traveler’s key constraints for using ride-hailing services.
  To explore the business owner’s perspective on introducing ride-hailing
services.
 To evaluate the impact of ride-hailing services on traffic congestion problems.

Study Questions.

This business transformation project will be focusing on following research questions.

 What is the importance of ride-hailing services introduction in Islamabad?

 What are the traveler’s requirements and attitude towards ride-hailing
services?
 What are the traveler’s key constraints for using ride-hailing services?
 What is the business owner’s perspective on introducing ride-hailing services?
 What will be the impact of ride-hailing services on traffic congestion
problems?

Methodology.

The rationale of this study is to explore the perspective of travelers and business owners’
requirements with reference to available ride-hailing service available along with importance
and constraints of these ride-hailing services in Islamabad, Pakistan. We would also be
analyzing the impact of use of ride-hailing service on traffic congestions. For this project we
would be taking the feedback of around 200 respondents including the management of
SWVL, drivers and travelers. The data collected will be analyzed through tables, charts and
graphs and on the basis of information conclusion will be drawn. If the results are good, the
management of SWVL will be presented with a project document which represent how they
can expand their business in other areas of Islamabad.

Research Data Management Plan.

For my business transformation project, following process will be used to manage data as per
the ethical requirements.

 Data Administration.
 This section will include the basic information related to author and the institute like
the Researcher name, Business transformation project title, project brief and the basic
reason why the author is conducting this project.
 Data Collection.
This will include the information regarding the data collection tool. For example, for
this business transformation project we will be using a questionnaire with close-ended
questions. This will also include the data confidentiality agreement that the data
which is provided by responded will remain safe and will only be used for research
purpose.
 Data Storage.
The data collected will be stored in the form of;
o Excel Sheet on a hard drive.
o Google sheet to be able to produce data as and when required.
o External hard drive for long term data storage.
This section will also include the data storage duration and how the data will be
archived.
 Data Ownership.
The data which is collected and stored will remain with the author and institution for
the future researchers who wants to use this data. All the arrangements for data
security and privacy will be done by institution.
 Data Documentation.
The primary data will remain available in the form of excel sheets and the secondary
data will be available in the form of graphs, analyzed sheets and chats. The
explanation of these graphs, charts and tables will also be available in library.

Planned Outcomes of Research.

As per the objectives and questions of my business transformation project and reference to
the literature available, following outcomes are planned at the end of this project.

1. To be able to highlight the importance of ride-hailing services in situations of high

fuel prices and traffic congestions problems in Islamabad.
 2. To be able to understand the traveler’s requirements and expectations from these ride-
hailing services along with the problems they usually face while using these app-
based transport services.
3. We would also be able to understand the business owner’s perspective in this study
along with the problems they face while operating their business.
4. To provide and implement a strategic and practical solution to business owner for the
expansion of ride-hailing service in Islamabad.

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