Via’s Tel Aviv Shuttle Service Bubble Reaches 4,500 Daily Passengers Milestone

Bubble, the Tel Aviv ridesharing service by New York-headquartered ridesharing company Via Transportation Inc. has reached a milestone of 4,500 daily passengers, according to mid-December data gathered by an external research company. The data, recently submitted to Israel's Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, was reviewed by Calcalist.

Set by the ministry, the milestone was reached after Via and its partner, public transportation company Dan Bus Co., added 60 additional vehicles in the past eight weeks, bringing its fleet up to 100 10-seat vehicles. According to the data, the service reached 4,150 daily passengers in late November, a 30% rise since the beginning of the month.

According to additional data submitted to the ministry, which was based on a user survey, half of the users questioned own a private vehicle, with 34% of respondents stating that the last ride they took on the service replaced a ride on their private vehicle. Via estimated this translates to a reduction of about 112,000 private vehicle rides since the service launched in April. Of the users questioned, about 60% used Bubble to get to work.

Bubble users book rides through a dedicated app, inputting their desired pickup and drop-off locations, and the app devises the most efficient route for each driver based on the received hails. The service operates Sunday to Thursday, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., with fares range between NIS 12 and NIS 15 (approximately $3.4-$4), about twice as much as a bus ride but significantly less than a standard taxi.