Grab, the leading ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia recently announced GrabShare on 6th December 2016. GrabShare is Grab’s new commercial carpool service, whereby passengers can share a ride and fare.
I remembered visiting Grab’s booth at Echelon Asia Summit 2016 and learned about their Grab for Work. The Head of Grab Singapore, Mr Lim Kell Jay, also spoke at one of the platforms during Echelon Asia Summit 2016, his sharing and views left a good impression on me. Technology advancements have changed tremendously over the past few decades and in today’s climate, “Disrupt or Be Disrupted” on Grab’s business card sums it up perfectly.
During GrabShare official launch event on 6th December 2016, I had the opportunity to witness the launch of GrabShare and the chance to hear Kell Jay speak again, sharing about Grab and GrabShare. Kell Jay mentioned to the visitors present at the official launch event that caught my attention and left an impression on me, Grab looks after their drivers and in turn, the Grab drivers would look after the passengers that they fetch and ferry around. In my personal humble opinion and from a services industry provision perspective, this business philosophy is the way to go for growth and expansion (for Grab’s service/ride-hailing/transportation).
Let me share more information and details about GrabShare from the press release information below –
Grab, the leading ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia, today announced GrabShare, the company’s first commercial carpool service that is beta-tested in Singapore. With GrabShare, passengers enjoy cheaper rides while drivers earn more from completing two passenger bookings in one trip. GrabShare is the company’s fourth transport service in Singapore and complements GrabTaxi (taxi-hailing), GrabCar (private hire car-hailing) and GrabHitch (non-commercial social carpooling).
To get passengers quickly to their destinations, GrabShare pairs just two passenger bookings with similar trip routes within a single trip. Passengers will only experience a maximum of two stops before reaching their destinations. For example, if Passenger A commences the ride and is paired with Passenger B, depending on the more efficient trip route, Passenger A may make a first stop to pick-up Passenger B and a second to drop-off Passenger B.
“Commuters in Singapore indicated that they would be open to carpooling if they didn’t have to make long detours with numerous passengers in one trip. Drivers had the same feedback and wanted the option of taking short breaks between trips. GrabShare is designed with drivers and passengers in mind to provide the best carpool experience in Singapore — passengers enjoy cheaper fares with minimal additional time spent on the road, and drivers earn more from shorter carpool trips,” said Lim Kell Jay, Head of Grab Singapore.
Benefits of GrabShare to passengers include:
1. Cheaper fares
GrabShare fares are priced up to 30 percent cheaper than GrabCar Economy fares. Fares are fixed and displayed upfront. With Grab’s dynamic pricing model that balances supply and demand, passengers enjoy cheaper rides during non-peak hours when more available drivers are on the road.
2. Ride with a friend at no additional cost
GrabShare users can bring another friend on the ride at no additional cost, as long as both share the same pick-up and drop-off locations.
3. Maximum two-stop guarantee
Passengers can expect no more than two stops before reaching their destinations. This ensures everyone reaches their locations fast for less. Drivers will wait up to three minutes for each passenger at pick-ups.
4. Instant booking
Passengers can book a GrabShare ride on-demand from anywhere, at any time and enjoy socialising with fellow commuters on the ride.
5. Ride with peace of mind
Grab’s Group Personal Accident Insurance covers all passengers in the event of an accident. The total personal accident benefits for the driver or passengers can be up to US$250,000 per vehicle, or up to an aggregate limit of US$2.5 million per accident.
Benefits of GrabShare to drivers include:
1. Higher earnings
Drivers can complete two passenger bookings at once to receive higher combined fares with every GrabShare trip.
2. Similar trip routes
Every GrabShare match is designed to minimise additional distance travelled, reducing fuel consumption and time spent on a GrabShare trip.
How GrabShare works
1. Passenger A selects GrabShare ride and is picked up by a GrabShare driver.
2. Passenger B selects GrabShare ride, and Passenger A and B are matched. The Grab app notifies both the driver and Passenger A and B of a successful match.
3. Diver makes a slight detour to pick up Passenger B. Both Passenger A and B can bring one other person to ride with them (for example, four seats in the car may be filled).
4. The order of pick-up and drop-off ensures that both Passenger A and B get to their destinations quickly.
Friday 9th December 2016 Special!
To celebrate the launch, passengers can ride with GrabShare for a flat fee of SGD5 on Friday, 9 December, regardless of the journey.
Download the Grab app today from the App Store and Google Play to experience GrabShare. For more information, please visit https://www.grab.com/sg/share/.
* Information courtesy of Grab Singapore and Golin *