Grab rolls out new initiatives for drivers
Just a month after Uber rolled out a host of initiatives for its drivers, rival Grab is rolling out Better 365, a campaign to address drivers' requests for more flexibility and support.
In fortnightly meetings at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio, drivers have told Grab they want to give feedback faster, said Grab Singapore head Lim Kell Jay.
Now they can do so with the Driver Rates Trip feature in the app in which a trip can be rated as positive or negative, based on such reasons as location, routes or passengers.
"Rating trips in real-time can give us real-time data that points out what areas of concerns drivers have that we need to work on," Mr Lim told The New Paper yesterday.
An in-app help centre to address common concerns and a Kerbside Hotline, meant for emergency situations such as accidents, will be introduced.
The changes also see the introduction of GrabAcademy, where drivers can access in-app training videos and quizzes whenever they need a refresher. Training videos may also be sent to drivers who might need more help.
Mr Lim, who clarified that the training is not mandatory but simply encouraged, added: "Although all new drivers have to attend training, it's impossible to cover everything in that one or two hours.
"With this, we can send specific training to specific drivers in bite-sized videos."
In response to feedback from drivers who found the incentives scheme complicated, an in-app incentive tracker will help drivers monitor their progress in achieving incentive targets.
For more flexibility, Grab drivers can also now input up to two preferred destinations per day and only be matched to riders along the way of their preferred destination.
Grab's roll-out follows rival Uber's 90 Days of Change campaign announced last month.
INCENTIVES
Uber has scrapped its 80 per cent trip acceptance rate that drivers previously had to meet to be eligible for incentives.
It also allows its drivers to input two locations per day that they have to reach by certain times and has a feature for drivers to know in advance if a trip is going to take more than 30 minutes.Uber told TNP last month: "Drivers are tired of words. They want action, and we are turning the page by committing to meaningful changes."
Transport expert Dr Terence Fan, assistant professor of strategic management at Singapore Management University, said of the two firms' consecutive roll-out of driver support schemes: "This is a case of classic competition in real time. If one company rolls out a scheme, the other might feel pressured to follow.
"It might not be in direct reaction to one another, but they want to keep their drivers happy since they don't want to lose drivers to their rivals."
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