'One less car' challenge: Over 200 Delhi NCR residents sign up to ditch their vehicles for a month

What happens when you give your personal vehicle a month off? Uber, in partnership with The Quantum Hub (TQH) and YLAC, has received over 200 registrations for its 'One Less Car' challenge, an initiative inviting personal vehicle owners across Delhi NCR to rethink their everyday commute by putting their cars and bikes aside for four weeks.

The initiative will select 25 vehicle owners who are willing to reduce their dependence on their personal vehicles and experience alternative modes of transportation, including Uber, autos, bikes, public transport and the Delhi Metro.

The response comes as an interesting indicator of growing curiosity around how people move through the city when their personal vehicle is no longer the default choice. Rather than asking participants to permanently give up their vehicles, the experiment encourages them to temporarily change their everyday mobility habits and see what works for them.

As part of the challenge, selected participants will receive a monetary transport support package that can be used across eligible Uber mobility offerings, including Uber, Auto, Bike and Delhi Metro tickets. Participants will have the flexibility to decide how they use the support based on their individual commuting needs.

Over the four-week period, participants will also document their experiences, capturing their daily and weekly journeys, the modes they choose, the challenges they encounter and the ways in which their perception of everyday mobility may change.

First India Edition After Australia, North America

The One Less Car experiment has previously been undertaken by Uber in Australia and North America, and now comes to Delhi NCR for its first India edition.

With 25 participants set to take part, the initiative will offer a first-hand look at what happens when Delhi NCR residents swap their usual drives for different ways of getting around, and whether four weeks without their personal vehicle changes the way they think about their commute.

Internet reacts

Reacting to the campaign, a user wrote, “hey, why did y'all choose Delhi for this campaign? wouldn't Bengaluru be a more appropriate location for it?”

Another user commented, “This is a very interesting experiment! Would love to see how it goes!”

“Make depend then charge premium capitalism 101,” the third user commented.