Gugas Armenian app to combine taxi and carpooling

Gugas Armenian mobile application has been launched, which combines taxi and carpooling.

It is available for iOS  and Android smartphones.

The application was created by three students of the Computer and Information Science program at American University of Armenia - Karlen Manaseryan, Haykaz Bagratyan and Albert Hambardzumyan.

Karlen Manaseryan told Itel.am that Gugas is designed for passengers, and Gugas driver allows access for both drivers and passengers.

“Passengers can make taxi pre-order at a convenient time for them. Our system calculates the precise fare. Carpooling goes as follows: the driver posts an advertisement with the starting point, time, fare, etc. By the way, we don’t charge commission for carpooling, which allows to ensure low fares and possibly free lines,” informed Karlen Manaseryan.

He also attached importance to carpooling by Facebook events. It gathers participating drivers and passengers of the given event in one place, simplifying the process.

Gugas mostly targets young people, students coming to Yerevan from regions, as well as users who value comfort and innovation in transportation.



Gugas co-founder Haykaz Bagratyan in his turn pointed out the rating mechanism.

“Passengers and drivers can rate each other after the ride, which will make the system more reliable for both drivers and passengers. By the way, no commission will be charged from taxi until September 1, and carpooling isn’t charged at all,” noted he.

According to Haykaz Bagratyan, they intend to add taxi share (or taxipooling) function, which will allow the passengers to share taxi fares if they agree to share the taxi. They also intend to prepare a web version of Gugas.

“Free carpooling platform is already evidence that it doesn’t bring particular profit. Our goal is to make precedent of a service offering quality IT solutions in Armenian transport industry, and develop carpooling in Armenia. In general, we differ from others by suggesting only a technological platform for travelers,” stressed Haykaz Bagratyan.

Gugas founders expect to have around 10 000 active users by the end of the year, with carpool users being the majority. They intend to present the app on the global market, and they’re currently working to enter Iranian market.

Narine Daneghyan