Grab launches new carpooling service to rival UberPool

·Senior Editor

6 December 2016 at 2:52 am

Ride-hailing app Grab has launched a new commercial carpooling service, some five months after its rival Uber launched a similar service.

GrabShare, which rolls out in phases from Tuesday (6 December), promises fares that are up to 30 per cent cheaper than the usual solo ride. Just like its rival UberPool, it matches passengers with similar routes in a single trip.

But unlike Uberpool, GrabShare rides will have no more than two stops – pick up and drop off of the additional passengers – before reaching the first rider’s destination. With an algorithm designed to minimise detours, this translates to about 20 per cent more traveling time compared with a solo ride.

Passengers can also bring a friend on the ride at no additional cost, unlike UberPool. GrabShare drivers can pick up a maximum of four passengers.

Speaking at the launch of the new service at the company’s regional research and development centre in Cecil Street, Grab Singapore head Lim Kell Jay said that GrabShare will prioritise the quality of matches, after gathering feedback from its drivers and users of other carpooling services.

The company already has a social carpooling service called GrabHitch, which brings together car owners and passengers and can be booked up to seven days in advance. Drivers can accept up to four passengers and have only one drop-off point.

Asked if he was concerned that riders might be confused by the new service, Lim acknowledged that it would take time for users to differentiate between GrabShare and GrabHitch.

He told Yahoo Singapore, “We have seen the confusion, and have gone to great lengths to clarify the difference. It will take some time. When Grab Car (first) launched, a lot of people didn’t understand it either.”

Grab, which is present in six countries and 34 cities, has some half a million drivers across its network. It currently has more than 50,000 drivers in Singapore for its four services, which include taxi-hailing service GrabTaxi and car-hailing platform GrabCar.

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