In a bid to expand the overall customer experience of ride-hailing drivers in South Africa, leading ride-hailing platform Bolt has introduced driver scores and driver trip sharing features which will improve the quality and safety of drivers on the platform.
The driver score feature is a transparent metric that allows drivers to understand their in-app performance better, encourages improvements in drivers’ habits, and helps them offer the best possible rider experience. The feature is designed to increase the quality of service, thus being at the core of positive driver and rider experience.
The driver trip-sharing feature adds an extra layer of safety for drivers. It will allow them to share a link with their real-time journey information. The link can be shared by Email, SMS, or via instant messaging apps and enables any third party with access to the link to track and follow the driver’s ride status and location in real-time.
Takura Malaba, Country Manager, Bolt SA, says, “Drivers are core to our business, so we constantly innovate to improve their experience on our platform. The new features we have introduced add to our in-app customer experience and are aimed at helping drivers have more control of their Bolt rides and maximise their earnings within a safe environment. The driver score and trip-sharing features align with the drivers’ entrepreneurial desires and improve the Bolt app’s overall user experience.”
We believe that drivers want to offer excellent services to riders. With the driver score feature, drivers can get constant feedback about their performance which will help them improve. On the other hand, the driver trip sharing will deter people with potentially malicious intent against drivers on the Bolt platform. Overall, riders have the best chances of being paired with a driver who is committed to high-quality service,” he concluded.
The link generated with the driver trip sharing feature is valid for the current ride. Drivers must issue a new link for every ride if they feel it necessary to do so. Links will remain active for up to 48 hours if a ride is incomplete. Accessing a link after the ride is completed will notify the user that the link is expired. Driver score is calculated off the last 100 trips performed by a driver. By default, a driver starts with the maximum possible score of 100 “good” trips. This score will decrease if the app picks up behaviour against good practices or harmful towards the rider.
