Beyond its private-hire cars, ride-hailing firm Grab is also known to offer a range of more specialised transport options.
Two of these services are GrabShuttle and GrabShuttle Plus, which let commuters book a guaranteed seat on a bus journey, at prices that are usually lower than private-hire or taxi rides.
GrabShuttle offers fixed-route journeys on 13, 23 and 40-seater buses, at fixed prices ranging from $3.50 to $5.
The Plus service on the other hand offers non-fixed routes in certain areas of Singapore, which you can book on-demand from $4 onwards, depending on the distance.
However, Grab has announced that both of these services will be discontinued on 1 January 2020.
Their last date of operation will be 31 December 2019.
Grab says the decision to cease these shuttle services will enable them to “redirect [their] efforts to further improving [their] core transport services”.
GrabShuttle and GrabShuttle Plus each existed as separate apps from the Grab app.
A similar service GrabCoach, which allows users to charter buses for nine to 40 passengers, is offered as an option through the main Grab app, and will still be available.
Along with this, CNA reported that Beeline, an app developed by the Land Transport Authority and Infocomm Development Authority (now the Government Technology Agency) that lets users book private bus rides based on crowdsourced route suggestions, is also shutting down by the end of 2019.
GrabShuttle’s service was powered by Beeline, but their discontinuations are unrelated.
Shaving Off Services To Make Way For Better
Last month, Grab also announced the end of some subscription plans, which were created to help users save costs on food and transport.
The Commute Plans (Lite, Basic and Extra) which offer ride discounts at three different price points, and the All Access Plan which gives subscribers ride discounts, GrabFood discounts and free GrabFood delivery, will be ceased from 16 December 2019.
In their place, Grab is currently testing a new set of subscription plans which are supposed to be “more tailored” to users’ behaviour and needs.
The firm aims to launch these offerings by December.
Featured Image Credit: Grab
