Ride-hailing app Grab has enjoyed tremendous growth in Southeast Asia in ways that its competitors can only hope to emulate – helping to move some 620 million people in the region, as they make transportation freedom a reality.
It has grown to encompass various modes of transportation from private cars, to even motorcycles, but what it started with was taxis, and in Singapore, Grab is somewhat returning to its roots through increased partnerships with local taxi operators.
Grab X Premier Taxis
Grab currently has several taxi partnerships already happening in Singapore.
SMRT, under their SRIDES service, and Trans-cab have been benefactors of the ride-hailing app, and recently, Grab even partnered with nuTonomy, the purveyors of a future with driverless taxis, to run trials for selected users to offer driverless rides.
Today, another operator joins that list – Premier Taxi.
Under this new partnership, around 3,000 drivers from its fleet will be coming on board Grab’s ecosystem.
What this means for Grab users is that there will not only be more taxis available via the app, but also cheaper booking fees for Silvercab taxis. If you were to get a Silvercab ride through Grab, you will only need to pay a booking fee of S$3.30 instead of S$4.50 during peak hours, and S$2.30 instead of S$2.50 during off peak hours.
40,000 Drivers Now Using Grab
With this new partnership, Grab now has a network of some 40,000 drivers in Singapore, and through their data-driven approach, has increased the matching rate of drivers to passengers by 25%.
Just as important is also that as much as this benefits users of the app, this partnership will also help taxi drivers too.
The taxi industry in Singapore has been heavily disrupted ever since the likes of Grab and Uber burst into the scene, both of which offering on-demand transportation that existing taxi companies are not able to offer.
There is hope that this deal will also help increase the income of the drivers through the increased bookings made from the app. Current taxi drivers will also undergo training at Grab to familiarise them with using the app when taking jobs, and also the safety guidelines and expected code of conduct.
At the rate that Grab’s growing, getting yourself to anywhere around Singapore is becoming a hell of a lot easier.