Grab, the technology company that offers a wide range of ride-hailing and logistics services in Southeast Asia, launched its carpooling service on 6 December in Singapore – five months after its competitor Uber started the same service in July.
It is reported that GrabShare accepts bookings for similar routes but the maximum booking is for two people. The company also promises to commute passengers quicker with fares that are 30 percent cheaper than GrabCar Economy fares. The company also says that the new service is different from the existing carpooling services called GrabHitch. Unlike GrabShare, the old service allows up to four passengers with only one drop to book. Moreover, because of the reason that it matches car owners with passengers it has to be booked between 15 minutes and up to seven days in advance, reported Today Online.
However, GrabShare passengers can expect fast travelling with maximum two stops before reaching their destinations.
Lim Kell Jay, head of Grab Singapore, said that the company decided to launch this app after GrabHitch did well in the market. He said, according to the news website, that people are now open to the idea of carpooling. "People are warming up to the idea of sharing a ride to save some cost, or to get a ride when they can't," said Lim, as reported.
The company, however, refused to reveal how many drivers are engaged in its various services and gave an average number of 50,000 drivers in its network. Though the company did not disclose the manpower behind the service, it said that vehicles will get optimally utilised and drives can also earn more per hour.
GrabTaxi was established in 2012 as MyTeksi in Malaysia and now functions in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines other than Malaysia.
