Our vision
Why MageRide exists, what it is trying to be, and what it is not yet.
Sri Lanka runs on transport that is hard to see. A bus is somewhere on its route. A school van is somewhere between home and school. A three-wheeler is nearby, or it is not. Everyone waits, and nobody can say for how long.
MageRide puts them on one map. Watch a public bus or a train arrive. Follow a school van you have been given permission to see. Book a three-wheeler, a car or a van and know the fare before you agree to it. Send a package across town and watch it go.
Three things in one app, in Sinhala, Tamil and English — and no commission taken from the drivers who make it work.
Our mission
MageRide exists to give Sri Lanka one live picture of how the country moves — buses, trains, three-wheelers and vans on a single map, run as public infrastructure rather than a private service.
We are starting, not finished. A vehicle appears on the map only once its operator or driver has joined, so early on you will see the ones who have — not every vehicle in the country. We would rather tell you that than let the map imply otherwise.
What that means in practice
Drivers keep 100%
MageRide takes no commission on any fare. The price a passenger sees is the price the driver receives — we never sit between them and the money.
Source specs/user-requirements-document.md#1-product-vision
Passengers pay nothing
No subscription, no premium tier, no booking fee. You pay the driver for the ride, and nothing at all to us.
Source specs/user-requirements-document.md#daily-platform-fee-structure-namma-yatri-methodology
The first trip each day is free
Drivers pay a flat daily fee only from their second trip, and nothing on the days they do not drive. No per-trip cut, ever.
Source specs/user-requirements-document.md#epic-9-daily-platform-fee-billing
Sinhala, Tamil and English
Every screen, in all three languages, from the first launch. Not an afterthought and not a partial translation — the same app whichever one you read.
Source CLAUDE.md#universal-rules
Built on open maps
MageRide runs on OpenStreetMap data served from its own map servers, not a licensed commercial map. That keeps the cost off drivers and keeps the map something we can fix ourselves.
Source specs/D6_mageride_integration.md#7-6-maps-tiles-pmtiles-nominatim-d-14
Your data stays yours
Ask for a copy of everything we hold about you and we will send it within 30 days. Ask us to erase it and we will, within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep a record.
Source specs/architecture-design-document.md#pdpa-svc
Questions people ask first
If passengers pay nothing and drivers keep the whole fare, how does MageRide earn?
Drivers taking on-demand rides pay a flat daily platform fee — but only from their second trip of the day, and nothing on days they do not drive. That fee is the entire business model. There is no commission on any fare and no charge to passengers.
Will I see every bus and every three-wheeler?
Not on day one. MageRide is built to hold the whole country, but a vehicle appears only once its operator or driver has joined. Coverage grows steadily, and for a while it will be thinner in some places than others. We would rather say so plainly than let the map imply otherwise.
What are Mode A, Mode B and Mode C?
Three different things you can do. Mode A is public buses and trains, free for anyone to watch. Mode B is a private vehicle you have been given permission to follow. Mode C is booking a ride or a delivery right now. They are separate services, not one feature with a switch on it.
Whose maps does MageRide use?
OpenStreetMap data, served from MageRide’s own map and search servers. There is no commercial map licence and no per-user fee, which keeps that cost off drivers.
Can I get my data, or have it deleted?
Both. You can ask for a copy of everything MageRide holds about you and receive it within 30 days, and you can ask for your account and personal data to be erased, also within 30 days — except for records the law requires us to keep.