Grab and Prime Taxi today announced a partnership on 19 October that will enable all 1,000 Prime Taxi drivers to fulfill on-demand passenger bookings via the Grab platform.
With this partnership, commuters can use the Grab application to access more than half of the nation’s taxi fleets.
This is Grab’s third partnership with a local taxi operator in two months. Grab had announced its partnership with Trans-cab in September and Premier Taxi in the beginning of October to bring all taxi drivers aboard exclusively using Grab mobile application to accept bookings.
While formal discussions were only initiated recently, the formalisation of the partnership comes after years of careful evaluation at Prime Taxi. Prime Taxi recognises the benefits of third-party application operators and its capability to enable drivers and passengers to enjoy the convenience of on-demand mobile ride hailing.
Deputy General Manager of Prime Taxi, Neo Chee Yong, said, “Prime Taxi is always striving to be more innovative to bring benefits to the taxi industry, from being the first to introduce hybrid taxis in Singapore to embracing third-party taxi booking applications. This is why we are particularly keen to work with local champions like Grab who understand Singapore taxi drivers and are leaders in the ride-hailing industry. This partnership will extend Grab’s technology to Prime Taxi’s drivers, enhancing the efficiency of the fleet and allowing drivers to make better use of their time on the road so we can better serve the public.”
Using data analytics, Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing company, has refined its fleet routing technology to minimize ride cancellations. Today, 25 percent of ride bookings are less likely to be cancelled by drivers and passengers, creating a better travel experience for commuters and improved efficiency for drivers.
Now with three taxi operators on board, Grab has access to the most diverse pool of drivers than any other provider in Singapore, and the most extensive dataset to better study commuters’ travel patterns and behaviours.
Commenting on the latest partnership, Melvin Vu, Head of GrabTaxi Singapore, said, “Taxi drivers play a crucial role in meeting transportations needs in Singapore and we remain committed to empowering them to better serve passengers. Our latest partnership with Prime Taxis makes Grab the most diversified transportation platform with access to a more varied and extensive dataset to study the island’s transportation patterns. Ultimately, our goal is to make the taxi industry even more competitive, better fulfil commuters’ on-demand point-to-point travel needs, and drive towards Singapore’s car-lite vision.”
As part of the on-boarding process, new Prime drivers will be provided with subsidised smart phones and undergo training to help familiarise them with the Grab application and learn about Grab’s safety guidelines and expected code of conduct.
With Prime Taxi on board, Grab continues to grow its largest land fleet network of over 40,000 drivers spanning across all its services including GrabTaxi, GrabCar and GrabHitch.