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GrabShare launched in Singapore, expect cheaper carpool rides!

By Wong Chung Wee - on 6 Dec 2016, 4:52pm

With the official launch of GrabShare in Singapore, you can look forward to cheaper carpool rides!

(Source: Grab)

GrabShare is the latest carpooling service from the good folks of Grab. Passengers can now enjoy the professional services of GrabCar drivers, and share the cost of their rides with their fellow passengers! This morning, Mr. Lim Kell Jay, Head of Grab Singapore, officially launched GrabShare from its Cecil Street office, he also took the opportunity to share the details of GrabShare with local press members and other invited guests. There is understandably some confusion between the new GrabShare and its social carpooling service, GrabHitch. In a nutshell, GrabShare is a commercial carpooling service, which allows up to four passengers to share a ride at discounted prices.

The differences between GrabShare and GrabHitch, in summary.

In order to get the passengers quickly to their respective destinations, each GrabShare ride is limited to a maximum of two stops. According to Mr. Dominic Widdows, a software engineer who was closely involved in the development of the matching algorithm of GrabShare, the software will match passengers such that they will only experience up to two stops before reaching their respective destinations.

Widdows, the Grab software engineer, explained how the GrabShare software UX looked like, from the user's perspective (left),and from the GrabCar driver's view (right).

The matching algorithm also ensures the shortest travelling time, while taking into consider the availability of drivers in the proximity, travel time, traffic conditions, and other geospatial data before determining the sequence of the pick-ups and drop-offs for passengers on the same GrabShare ride. The software was developed in Grab R & D centers in Singapore, Seattle, and Beijing.

Besides allowing for cheaper, on-demand carpooling services for GrabShare passengers, Grab aims to increase the utilization of the GrabCar driver’s vehicle with “similar trip routes” as passengers are optimally matched by GrabShare’s matching algorithm. Grab aims to grow the GrabCar driver’s income by potentially increasing the number of GrabShare job trips the driver can handle during his driving hours.

GrabShare riders can look forward to savings of up to 30%, this is in comparison to the regular GrabCar Economy charges. However, their travel time will most likely increase by roughly 20%. So GrabShare isn’t recommended for user who are pressed for time. For personal safety, GrabShare riders are covered by Grab’s Group Personal Accident Insurance, in the unfortunate event of an accident.

Lim Kell Jay, Head of Grab Singapore, presided over the official launch of GrabShare in Singapore this morning.

Kell Jay shared that the impetus to launch GrabShare was driven by the success of GrabHitch. Not only does the new carpooling service complements the non-commercial initiatives of GrabHitch, but it also takes aim at the car-lite future, which GrabHitch has envisioned. GrabShare is now available as another transport service in Singapore via the Grab app. As a celebratory gesture, GrabShare users can enjoy their shared rides for a flat fee of S$5 on Friday, 09 December 2016. So mark that date on your calendar and go car-lite!

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