RideShare: DMCI Homes' innovation for comfortable and sustainable commuting of condo residents

Metro Manila traffic has been infamous for taking a toll on commuters’ mental and physical wellbeing—not only because of the hours spent on the road, but also because of the hours spent waiting for a ride. What’s worse is that transportation expenses have been increasing steadily in the past few months.

For most working-class citizens, the solution is to live near their workplace, and if they get lucky, they get to walk to work. A lot of times, though, walking is not an option. So, they look for a way to make commuting more comfortable and cheaper.

With this in mind, Quadruple A developer DMCI Homes has expanded its carpooling program, called RideShare, to more residential developments. An innovation that was launched at their Acacia Estates project in Taguig City, RideShare’s expansion is DMCI Homes’ way of saying that it has heeded the call for the much-needed service in different parts of the metro.

App-based service

Rhea Castro, a workforce analyst who works at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, has felt the huge impact that the program has on her wellbeing. A resident of Brixton Place in Pasig City, Castro has been using RideShare—which is accessible through DMCI Communities Mobile App—to get to work.

“One of the reasons why I moved to Brixton is because previously, it was hard to go to work, and when I discovered that DMCI was offering RideShare, it's one of the things that I considered before moving here,” she says. “Aside from the great location: it's near my office, and it's near a lot of other places.”

As someone who works during the graveyard shift, Castro starts her day during rush hour and goes home around three in the morning. This means that getting a car from a ride-hailing service can take a while and can get very expensive. When her colleagues who live at Brixton Place told her about the program, she didn’t hesitate to move homes to make her everyday life more comfortable.
 

“When I book in the DMCI Communities Mobile App, I usually book in advance, like a day before or like a few hours before,” she shares her process. “It’s seldom that I book like a few minutes before. Sometimes, I reach out to the admin first before I book, just in case I'm too late. Then, the ride is actually early. So, I usually book 5:00 PM, and the ride is here like maybe 5 to 10 minutes before 5:00 PM. From the time that we ride until we arrive at the office, I can say it just takes like, what, a few minutes? It's very fast. So aside from helping the environment and reducing pollution, they consider their residents who do not have cars or who always commute, especially those who are in farther areas.” 

It also helps, she says, that she gets to meet her fellow residents during the ride—unlike other ride-sharing options where her companions and the driver are complete strangers: “It's nice to see other people, and, you know, when you see them, you just smile at each other, which means you know the community is really friendly.”

A place like home

Castro, who hails from Baguio City, has also loved the fact that the Brixton Place was built in a way that allows air to circulate anywhere in the building.  

“I really can't stand like a few hours outside the air conditioner,” Castro recalls her first few years after moving to Metro Manila in 2014. “When I got here at Brixton, and I was just at the lobby, it was really airy, and it's really nice. The ambiance is good; you have a roof deck, and you can just go anytime at night or in the morning; and you can walk around.”

“It's near a church, so it's very nice, and if you want to go to BGC, you can use RideShare. Those are the things that I like about this place. It's near everything, and there's the taho and there's kwek-kwek outside. You don't get a lot of those in other places. I can say that you feel that it's safe: you can just walk around.” 

In the end, Castro has this to say: “DMCI Homes, thank you for thinking about this project, this initiative RideShare. I think that it is really helpful to a lot of people. It's very convenient and I do hope that other condos would think about this initiative.” 

To learn more about RideShare and DMCI Homes’ pre-selling and ready for occupancy projects, units for lease, and special promos, call (632) 5324-8888. You can also visit leasing.dmcihomes.com to know more about opportunities in leasing and rent-to-own programs of DMCI Homes. News and other updates are also posted on the company’s official website and social media accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.