Grab gets 600,000 bookings but has only 35,000 vehicles
Grab receives about 600,000 passenger booking requests each day but only 35,000 vehicles are available to serve the riding public, resulting in long waits or not getting allocated a vehicle at all.
Before Grab’s acquisition of Uber, its 24,000 vehicles served 60-65 percent of bookings. Uber had 19,000 vehicles and a success rate of 50 percent, according to Grab country head Brian Cu.
Of the 19,000 active Uber vehicles, only 11,000 moved to Grab. Most of the gap is due to the 6,000 active Uber drivers who could no longer continue driving as they were not part of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)’s audited master list.
As a result, only 53% of passengers are able to get a ride on their first booking attempt, but this goes down to as low as 37% on average during peak hours.
“Driver numbers continue to drop as uncertainty in maintaining sustainable livelihood increases,” he explained. “With the recent suspension of R2 per minute fare, a lot of drivers and operators fear they won’t be able to provide for their families and car maintenance expenses.”
“Majority of social media sentiment we monitor regarding the inability to get a ride is due to the perception of choosy drivers, but in reality this is because there are no available cars in the area,” he went on.
“We are reassuring the riding public that we are addressing their concern regarding undisciplined drivers and we are thankful for their understanding of the current situation.”
The demand and supply situation of TNVS in the Philippines is serious and will need the collaboration of regulators and ride-hailing companies, he stressed.
“We need more cars to serve the riding public. We appeal to the LTFRB to allow the displaced 6,000 Uber drivers who are not part of the masterlist to continue driving with their chosen TNC in order to support the demand. With an average of 12 rides a day, this is already an additional 72,000 rides, which can help ease the plight of the riders.”
“While we collaborate with regulators to find a solution to the supply situation, we remain committed to improving our services to our passengers and drivers,” according to Cindy Toh, Country Marketing Head.
“In the meantime, we encourage our riders to maximize available vehicles by sharing their ride with other passengers using GrabShare. We will continue to refine our incentives structure to support our partners who drive to bring passengers to their destinations.”