📋 Tender Overview
SMRT Roads and Grab announced a technology partnership aimed at streamlining SMRT taxi partners operations while on the road.An enhanced Grab Driver app will be launched only for SMRTs taxi partners from 1 October. Replacing the Mobile Display Units in SMRTs taxis the app will be rolled out fleetwide by the end of the year. The app enables SMRT drivers to manage earnings and receive jobs from across SMRTs existing booking system street hail and the Grab platform all through one single app.The bookings will be assigned to SMRT drivers intelligently using Grabs allocation technology1 which will help to improve their productivity. With the app drivers can start their taxi meter when they opt for street hail jobs and control their rooftop signs when they have a passenger onboard. SMRT passengers can also expect a shorter waiting time for their drivers once their SMRT call bookings are successfully allocated with the updated mapping tools and ride optimisation features the Grab platform offers.The enhanced Grab driver app was jointly developed by SMRT and Grab leveraging Grabs deep technology expertise and SMRTs experience as one of the leading taxi operators in Singapore. In addition Grab has built a web-based fleet operations platform to streamline SMRTs operational needs. SMRT has also set up a dedicated cloud-based infrastructure to ensure an optimal experience for its drivers and operations team. Both the enhanced Grab driver app and fleet operations platform are built using Grabs industry-leading transport technology.SMRT and Grab have had a long-standing partnership since 2017 when it was announced that all of SMRT drivers were able to take on Grab jobs such as JustGrab and Standard Taxi. This has expanded the number of earning opportunities for them over the years. The new partnership deepens the collaboration and aims to better prepare taxi partners for an increasingly digitised marketplace.Mr Tan Kian Heong President SMRT Roads said We have been working with Grab on this project for a year now. This new system will seamlessly integrate Grabs driver app with our street hail system providing convenience and more job opportunities to our taxi partners. At SMRT we plan ahead to transform and be ready for the digital age. We are helping our taxi partners to learn how to use the enhanced system so that they can quickly benefit from it.To provide our driver-partners with a best-in-class driving experience Grab has invested heavily into our transport technology and developed many innovations such as our automated ERP calculator and emergency button under the safety center. Many of these features go through constant refinement to ensure they are meeting our driver-partners needs. We are pleased to be able to extend this technology for the first time to like-minded partners like SMRT to benefit an even wider pool of point-to-point transport drivers said Yee Wee Tang Managing Director Grab Singapore.This app is convenient and the new features are easy to use. Now not only do I not need to monitor the meter unit and my mobile phone for jobs Im able to see all my earnings in one app on a single screen said SMRT Taxi Partner Lau Soon Hong 56.Technology-driven experience for driversSMRT taxi drivers simply need to login to the Grab Driver App from their mobile devices complete the verification process by signing in to SMRTs driver portal to identify them as a SMRT driver to get their accounts activated.As the driver app is built using Grabs transport technology SMRT drivers will benefit from existing tech features on the app. These include safety features such as the safety center2 and driver telematics3 as well as features built to help driver-partners optimise their earnings. The Grab in-app navigation tool provides real-time road conditions updates while the demand heatmap will point drivers to areas with high passenger demand. Drivers will also be able to access self-improvement opportunities via GrabAcademy modules.SMRT drivers can also look forward to continous app feature updates from Grab. On average Grab had rolled out more than one tech improvement to its transport platform every week in the whole of 2019.Streamlining fleet operations processTo support SMRT operations needs Grab has designed and developed the web-based fleet operations platform from ground up. With the end-to-end technology solution SMRT is able to supervise and control the entire dispatch and fleet operations from a central portal efficiently.The web portal enables SMRT operations officers to register new vehicles in the fleet or suspend errant drivers and customers quickly if required. They will also be able track bookings in real time and send in-app notifications to drivers if there are any important announcements. In the event of emergency situations SMRT will also be alerted through the drivers panic button and they will be able to identify the vehicle location on the web portal.During the transition period SMRT and Grab will be conducting training for all SMRTs taxi drivers and both parties will continue to seek feedback from them to improve upon the app.
