Nasiriyah motorcycle taxi app signs up 70 riders at half the price of a cab

DHI QAR — A motorcycle taxi service in Nasiriyah has signed up 70 riders and takes bookings through an app, charging 1,000 to 5,000 dinars a trip, about 65 cents to $3.30, which its founder says is roughly half a taxi fare.

It started with Mustafa Abbas giving free lifts on his own motorcycle to people heading his way, before he learned that similar services ran in other countries. He turned it into a business and at first drove every passenger himself. Friends joined: a lawyer handled the paperwork, a developer built the app and another friend provided premises. Then motorcycle owners began applying.

Riders, known as captains, pass an interview and a riding test and have their identity documents registered before they start. They must be over 18, may carry only one passenger and must keep to a set speed limit, and the service has rules on passenger safety and privacy. It runs around the clock, busiest in the morning rush and from the afternoon into the evening, with representatives in several districts and trips from Nasiriyah to Suq al-Shuyukh, Shatra and Qalat Sukkar. It has also branched into city tours, photography and wedding bookings.

Sajjad Abdul Amir found it on social media and says he can manage up to 20 rides a day, with his income depending on hours and demand. Passenger Ali Ihsan uses it to get through Nasiriyah traffic: a trip that costs 3,000 dinars by taxi runs about 1,000 to 1,500 on a motorcycle.