There will be an ‘improved’ GrabShare service that promises more matches and higher fare earnings for drivers.
The new and improved will see significant changes that will affect both drivers and riders.
TODAYonline reported that the improved GrabShare’s matching algorithm is being enhanced to give riders greater savings, up to 35 per cent lower than JustGrab. It is also capable of providing better quality matches with minimal detours.
The change will take place from 12 November 2018. It will be rolled out to selected Grab riders initially and be made available to all riders by the end of November 2018.
When 3 is a crowd
In the new system, drivers can pick up and complete up to 3 group of riders per GrabShare trip. Previously, it was capped at 2 group of riders per trip.
Commission Free if Unmatched
If a GrabShare ride is unmatched, drivers will be refunded 100% of the commission for the unmatched GrabShare trip that they completed. Drivers MUST be on auto-accept to qualify for the refund of commission for the unmatched trip.
How will this affect Grab Drivers
Winners
Well-behaved, modal Grab Drivers who play by the rules to qualify for weekly incentives will benefit from the revised GrabShare system.
These group of drivers typically accepts all trips and work toward achieving a weekly trip target. The increase in the number of matches on a single GrabShare trip will help them achieve their weekly trip faster.
Drivers who are chasing the Guaranteed Income Program will have more to win than to lose. They are not fare-sensitive and the lower their fares are, the greater the top-up amount Grab will have to top-up.
Losers
The losers are once again the cherry-pickers! Cherry Pickers are an elite group of drivers who selectively provide their private-hire service at a premium price. They are usually most active during peak hours, train breakdowns and rainy days.
With a fare so low, GrabShare ridership is likely to see an increase and all drivers will be showered with GrabShare trip request.
GrabShare is a nightmare for cherry pickers. Firstly, the fare is too low by their standards. Secondly, getting these trips assigned to them is just a waste of their acceptance ratings and cancellation ratings as they will never accept them.
What is the big deal then? If lady luck is not with them for the day, they will have to ‘lan lan’ accept the GrabShare trip by the 5th or 6th call if not they will be timed-out of the system. Drivers who are timed-out will not be assigned calls for a period of 15 minutes.
A Chip Off the Old Block
Past Uber drivers would be able to tell you how the new GrabShare system is learning and improving from the now-defunct UberPool system. UberPool is the first commercial car-pooling service introduced in Singapore.
UberPool can allow up to 4 different set of riders to be sharing the car at any point in time. As long as a seat frees up, the vehicle is open for more UberPool matches.
UberPool takes a 10% commission from drivers if it is an unmatched trip and up to 30% on matched trips.
