Written by an enthusiast, about a category that nearly worked

tripda.com is an independent blog about intercity ride-sharing: the empty seat as an economic object, the platforms that tried to sell it, and the reasons the same product travelled well in one country and died in the next.

The name is borrowed from one of those platforms. Tripda was launched by Rocket Internet in 2014, ran in a dozen-odd countries, and closed in 2016 — which makes it a better subject than a survivor would be. A company that lasts explains its own success afterwards. A company that stops leaves the conditions it needed visible.

What is here

Fifteen pieces in four sections. The first is arithmetic: occupancy, cost-sharing, density, and the detour nobody prices. The second is the trust layer — profiles, ratings, deposits — which is the part that actually got built. The third is the launch machine and what it measures. The fourth is the competition: coaches, rail, and household car ownership.

How it is written

• Figures are quoted from the documents that carry them, and named where they come from. Where a number is a range, it is written as a range.
• No company is treated as a hero or a cautionary tale. The interesting question is which markets could supply what the model needed.
• Photographs come from a picture kit assembled for the site; the ones from Wikimedia Commons are credited under the frame.
• Corrections are welcome and get made. Contact.