As more people turn to ride-hailing in South Africa as a mode of transport, Bolt is adopting and considering new technologies to keep riders and drivers safe.
The company, which carries on average of about 1.4 million riders per month, released a survey on Wednesday that revealed that most of its users – of which 70% are women – use ride-hailing because they feel safer, especially at night, and to avoid driving drunk.
The Ride-Hailing Safety Index Report, conducted by market research company Ipsos, found that 92% of users feel safer using ride-hailing at night compared to other transport options, and 76% believe the platform helps reduce drunk driving.
Some 73% use the mode of transport for its convenience and 44% say its affordable compared to owning a car and paying for fuel.
Of 250 people interviewed, statistics revealed that 43% of the users are aged between 25 and 34. Ipsos focused on people actively using ride-hailing in the last 12 months in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Bolt South Africa senior operations manager Simo Kalajdzic said the platform is constantly looking at improving the technology on its safety toolkit because “safety isn’t a once-off; it’s a continuous improvement”. He said the company is exploring CCTV cameras in the cars of its 40 000 drivers.
“Today, we have an in-app mobile solution that we are piloting to better understand awareness, adoption and usability, and we are working with partners like Cartrack on how we can bring more CCTV capabilities into all our vehicles,” Kalajdzic said. Part of the discussions include costs and who can offer the best deal for the drivers and Bolt.
Algorithms
On the panic button that has been stipulated in new e-hailing regulations by the transport department, he said Bolt will partner with a private security company. Bolt wants one service provider to avoid a situation where a car has “three different” panic buttons.
The latest feature in Bolt’s safety toolkit, launched three months ago, is a pickup code. The feature ensures that a rider is getting into the right vehicle and is matched with the right driver. Rival Uber has also introduced a similar feature for security reasons. The trip can only start once the user confirms the pickup code on their app with the driver.
Read: Private sector asked to take the wheel in South Africa
The toolkit also includes a “share location” feature; details on the driver and vehicle; an SOS button for users to alert private emergency response teams discreetly directly from the app; and an audio trip recorder that acts both as a deterrent and an evidence-based mechanism that can be activated by the driver or rider at any time.
There is also risk-check feature that alerts Bolt if the trip is not following a regular route.
“What it does is at any point throughout your journey on the platform, we have algorithms running in the background that detect for any sudden stops or any route deviations and, as soon as we detect that, a prompt is sent to the user and you’ve got that opportunity to either confirm that you’re okay; if not, that’s where the rest of our emergency protocol will begin.” – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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