Working women’s commuting made comfortable

Three passionate minds -- Reyasat Chowdhury, Jawwad Jahangir, and Shah Sufian Mahmud Chowdhury-- have channeled their expertise to solve a real world problem. Leaving the glamour of corporate life, they founded Shuttle, an app-based pick and drop transport service for women.
Shuttle came into being from Robi Axiata Limited's incubation programme r-ventures with a view to restructuring the way women in our country commute. Currently, it is operating on six routes in Dhaka city and receiving good responses from users.
Reyasat Chowdhury, CEO of Shuttle, is a MIT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bootcamp graduate who previously worked as a product specialist in Robi Axiata Limited for two years. Jawwad Jahangir, COO of Shuttle, earlier founded and worked as the CEO of a marketing firm - Outbox Events that organised more than 50 university and corporate events. Both of them are business graduates from North South University.
Tech-savvy of the trio, Shah Sufian Mahmud Chowdhury, CTO of Shuttle, is a Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) graduate from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology who formerly co-founded an IT company -Weaver Innovations and also developed Digital Voice Alert System for rail-crossing and worked with ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh.
Driven by shared passion for problem solving, these changemakers have decided to dedicate their skills and experiences into their startup to solve the problems.
Leaving corporate jobs to start a startup is a huge step that comes with its unique challenges. Salwa Rafi interviewed Reyasat Chowdhury to know about his journey on making that move and launching Shuttle.
Question (Q): You started your career at Robi after graduation. What made you leave the secured career path?
Answer (A): Since my childhood, I always wanted to become an entrepreneur, but never knew how to take the first step. However, Jawwad Bhai and I used to have regular discussions on how to start our own venture that will have positive impact on society. One day Jawwad Bhai shared this idea with me that it would be great if we could solve the problems people face in local buses in our country. That was the start of our journey. After doing thorough analysis and talking to the potential customers, we came up with the idea of Shuttle.
Q: What are the key problems that Shuttle is trying to solve?
A: Lack of safety and comfort in public transport have always been major issues for women in Bangladesh. According to a study done by BRAC, 94 per cent women commuting in public transport in Bangladesh have experienced sexual harassment in verbal, physical and other forms. Owing to this security issue, women often hesitate to travel alone. On the other hand, using ride-sharing services, specially car, is too expensive for everyday commute. Most women also do not feel comfortable using ride-sharing bikes. Shuttle was established to solve this problem. Shuttle wants to ensure that no woman in our country ever has to worry about the safety while commuting anymore.
Q: Will this be a sustainable and scalable solution for all working women and female students?
A: There was a dire need of a transport service for women that is safe, comfortable and at the same time, affordable. Shuttle is a sustainable and scalable solution for all working women and female students because it provides just what they need. Women can now take air-conditioned micro busses everyday for intracity commute while sharing the ride with other women. An unprecedented safety measure by Shuttle is assigning a trained and verified trip manager in every vehicle who ensures passengers can commute safely. On that account, Shuttle has managed to gain customer trust. Since 10-11 women can commute together in Shuttle, the fare per person is very reasonable compared to ride sharing car services. Shuttle runs on specific routes with specific pick-up and drop-off points and maintains a fixed schedule. Passengers can book their rides instantly without hassle through the Shuttle app by selecting their pick-up and drop off locations.
Q: How has this start-up rewarded you and your team?
A: The most rewarding thing we have received from this venture so far is the feedbacks from our commuters. We have a Facebook community (group) of 7,000 regular women commuters. We respond to each and every issue ourselves and try to solve any problem immediately. Our direct communication with the users has been helpful for our continuous improvement.
Our commuters often share their gratitude and words of acknowledgment that continue to inspire us to work hard. We celebrated this year’s Women's Day with each of our commuters by surprising them with small gifts throughout the day. It felt amazing to see how this gesture made their day. Another good thing about Shuttle is the discipline and enthusiasm our employees have towards the service we provide. The landlord of our office building set this rule that the main gate of our office building will be opened at 8 am at the earliest. But since our first trip starts at 6:40 am, it is very important that we start office at 6 am. Hence, to solve this problem our employees come to my place (which is very close to our office) at 5:45 am, they work there till 8 am and then go to our office.
Q: How does Shuttle plan to improve the poor commuting environment for women living outside of Dhaka?
A: We are operating on six routes in Dhaka city now. We are introducing new routes every month and within the next few months we want to cover the entire Dhaka city. After that, we plan on expanding our service to other cities of Bangladesh. We want to ensure no woman in Bangladesh has to worry about safety about transport anymore.
Q: It is inevitable to face challenges on the path to entrepreneurship. Could you share the challenges that you have faced in bringing this idea to market?
A: Building the initial userbase, gaining trust among the customers and ensuring a smooth experience of the passengers were the most daunting challenges. Dealing with rent-a-car companies, training the drivers and ensuring we have customers during off-peak hours were also very challenging.
Q: From your learnings, what suggestion would you give to people wanting to start a venture to help the community?
A: People who are planning to do something of their own and have a positive impact on the society should first start with a problem and then talk to the potential customers to identify their real pain-points. If a solution is created based on customer insights, the job is already half done.
Q: Was there any trade-off that you have had to make for this startup?
A: A few days before we started Shuttle, I got selected for the MBA programme of Johns Hopkins University and received 100 per cent scholarship worth US$ 120,000. However, I was so excited about Shuttle that I did not go for my MBA. That was probably one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

The interviewer Salwa Rafi is currently studying in Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at BRAC University. She can be reached at [email protected]