Indian autorickshaw v Uber: The Delhi road 'race' between rivals

Uber versus Indian rickshaw: BBC Pop Up races both across Delhi

BBC Pop Up, the BBC's travelling bureau, is in India this month and hit the roads of Delhi to film the answer to the ultimate question: Is it faster to take an autorickshaw or call an Uber?.

It all started when a student at a BBC Pop Up town hall meeting at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication earlier this week, told the team about how she got lost while riding in an Uber taxi.

Screenshot of a Delhi student raising the challenges faced by the city's autorickshaw drivers due to the rise of taxi-riding apps. Text reads: "This student wants us to do a story on the challenges faced by auto drivers vs uber drivers. Thoughts?@BBCpopup

On Wednesday afternoon, BBC Pop-Up's Matt Danzico and Vikas Pandey decided to put this to the test.

Matt called an Uber while Vikas hailed an autorickshaw. They agreed to race each other from Hailey Road in central Delhi to Karol Bagh in west Delhi.

Screenshot of a BBC Pop Up tweet about the "race" between an Uber taxi and an autorickshaw. Text reads: "The Uber vs rickshaw race is on! Follow @BBCVikas and @mattdanzico across #Delhi to see which transport is faster"@BBCpopup

At the beginning, both rivals seemed confident in their mode of transport:

BBC Pop Up's Vikas Pandey tweets about his trip in an autorickshaw. Text reads: ".@mattdanzico seems to be struggling in his Uber to match my rickshaw. Go tuk tuk! bbcpopup @BBCIndia @BBCIndia"@BBCVikas
BBC Pop Up's Matt Danzico tweets about his trip in an Uber taxi in Delhi. Text reads: "Just started Uber/rickshaw race across #Delhi. My Uber is already driving 2x as fast as the rickshaws on the road!"@Mattdanzico

But then, the contestants came head to head with Delhi's infamous traffic snarls:

BBC Pop Up's Matt Danzico tweets about his Uber being stuck in traffic. Text reads: "Pedestrians walking past my Uber. @BBCVikas, I'll still beat you! Somehow... Delhi traffic just too much for a car"@MattDanzico

But the autorickshaw driver had a trick up his sleeve.

Text reads: My tuk tuk driver took a turn into a narrow lane, saying its a faster route! @mattdanzico - I think tuk tuk is winning this one!@BBCVikas

Which led to this inevitable result:

BBC Pop Up's Matt Danzico tweets about getting lost in his Uber. Text reads: "Congrats @BBCVikas. Your rickshaw won. My car service followed GPS and went to the wrong place. Asking locals 4 help."@MattDanzico
BBC Pop Up's Vikas Pandey tweets selfie with autorickshaw driver Gulshan. Text: "Rickshaw wins! Gulshan, my rickshaw driver, is pleased to beat @mattdanzico and his Uber! @BBCIndia @BBCPopup"@BBCVikas

The verdict: Autorickshaws are still the undisputable kings of Delhi's roads.

Kudos to Uber about being gracious in defeat though!

Uber India tweet responds to the "race". Text reads: @BBCpopup @mattdanzico we'll try out best to not disappoint you in the next round. @BBCVikas@Uber_India
BBC Pop Up's Matt Danzico tweets after catching up with Vikas Pandey and his autorickshaw. Text reads: "Look how [who] I just found! @uber_india we'll get them next time! It's really a test of GPS VS rickshaw driver knowledge.@MattDanzico

So why did the autorickshaw win?

Vikas Pandey says: "It just showed that auto drivers really know Delhi's alleys and bylanes and random destinations much better than GPS.

"It started out as fun, but became intense and actually felt like a Formula one race."

Matt Danzico reckons it was a battle of human versus robot brains in the end.

"This could happen only in a country like India where roads are still developed and GPS technology has not come far enough to understand developing spaces.

"It was really not a race between Uber and an autorickshaw. It was about GPS technology and old-school driver's brain."