Grab wins this round.
Ride-hailing services in Singapore are on the constant lookout to dominate a field that was once muffled in the industry. What Grab is about to launch in the industry is probably another bargaining chip to un-level the playing fields between Uber and Grab in Singapore. This is Grab’s third new transport service in the past three months, amid local competition with Uber.
The collaboration
GrabShuttle is a new tie-up between Grab and GovTech’s Beeline. It is a new fixed-route shuttle service that will allow commuters to book and pay for seats on the shuttle buses that will take them from the heartland neighbourhoods to town or the Central Business District. These routes will be determined by that of commuters’ demand.
The app will utilise Beeline’s route-mapping and crowd-sourcing database. The Head of Grab reflected that they were impressed with Beeline’s large database. This was what sparked the partnership as these two transport businesses capitalise on each other’s strengths – Beeline’s massive data and Grab’s strong branding.
Kell Jay Lim, Head of Grab Singapore said: “It allows us to test this new service with them while [Grab] focus on other parts of their business.”
Liu Feng Yuan, Director of Beeline similarly showed a vision for more joint partnerships to integrate and build up Beeline’s platform. There is a “joint aspiration to use digital technology and data to expand the transportation options for Singaporeans”.
The App
GrabShuttle is a separate app from the Grab. Currently, it has 9 routes for the morning and 6 routes for the evening. Commuters can use the GrabShuttle app to book seats up to a month in advance, and up to five minutes before the route starts. They can also book the same route across multiple days.
If the route option is unavailable, anyone can “crowdstart” routes with at least a demand of 15 people.
A single, normal trip costs about $5.00 whereas a “route pass” for crowdstarting routes will costs about $9 for 5 trips.
Smart Nation Initiatives
The government is leading the way in creating digital platforms that companies can build on. In parliment, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said: “Public transport is point-to-point; private transport is hub-to-hub and you have a last mile issue”. He reflected that public transport can revolutionise if there are smart options and initiatives added to it.
Download GrabShuttle here.
