To give you an idea of the scale of the COVID-19 outbreak back when it was still a pandemic (and not classified as the endemic situation that we know today), Singapore had confirmed only 40 cases of the viral infection back in February 2020. Nonetheless, that was sufficient alarm for Grab to suspend its GrabShare services.
Nearly three years later, the ride-hailing provider is finally reintroducing its ride sharing service to customers - albeit in a limited trial version.
The GrabShare trial will be limited only to selected areas within the Central-South region of the island Calling it a 'beta' release, Grab will make GrabShare available once more for two weeks between 16 and 29 January 2023, with the promise of fares up to 20% cheaper than normal rides.
The caveat, however, is that the service will only be available in select zones between 5:00pm to 11:00pm during the period. Most of these are found in the Central to South region of Singapore, and include the Downtown Core, Outram, River Valley, Singapore River, Marina Bay, One-North, and Buona Vista.
In its FAQ section announcing the service's return, Grab explained it was restricting the trial as such because demand is generally high during peak periods in these areas. Rolling the service out in these areas would thus "ensure the ideal GrabShare Beta experience".
Grab is promising fares up to 20% cheaper than what passengers will pay for normal rides Under the trial, only one passenger will be allowed per GrabShare booking, down from two passengers previously. Additionally, Grab will match each passenger with a maximum of only one other rider (in other words, only two bookings per shared ride). The company says this will prevent last minute route changes.
Users of the service should also expect to wait up to seven minutes after booking for the app to find a match. If no other riders are available, they will be redirected to book a JustGrab ride instead.
Nearly three years later, the ride-hailing provider is finally reintroducing its ride sharing service to customers - albeit in a limited trial version.
The caveat, however, is that the service will only be available in select zones between 5:00pm to 11:00pm during the period. Most of these are found in the Central to South region of Singapore, and include the Downtown Core, Outram, River Valley, Singapore River, Marina Bay, One-North, and Buona Vista.
In its FAQ section announcing the service's return, Grab explained it was restricting the trial as such because demand is generally high during peak periods in these areas. Rolling the service out in these areas would thus "ensure the ideal GrabShare Beta experience".
Users of the service should also expect to wait up to seven minutes after booking for the app to find a match. If no other riders are available, they will be redirected to book a JustGrab ride instead.
