Having a tough time finding a cab in Singapore? A local startup, GrabTaxi, is here to help make cab booking easier and more convenient for everyone. The GrabTaxi mobile app, which connects commuters directly to cab drivers’ personal smartphones, beta launched yesterday. The app is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices via their respective app stores.
The GrabTaxi concept changes the way commuters book cabs. The cab companies are taken out of the loop. In this way, GrabTaxi can potentially reach out to cabs belonging to any cab company. Cab drivers have to be registered and signed on with GrabTaxi.
To book a cab, commuters launch the mobile app, which will automatically detect their current location using their smartphone’s location information. The number of cabs nearby is shown by the app. The commuter selects the desired destination, and the booking request is sent to all cab drivers nearby. Drivers bid for the job and the cab nearest to the commuter will be assigned the booking. The commuter will receive booking confirmation via the app, which will include information such as estimated time of arrival, taxi number, and the driver’s contact details (including driver’s photo).
In addition, commuters can also track the real-time location of the booked taxi as it arrives at the pickup location. After commencing the ride, commuters can also use the “Share My Ride” tool in the the app, which enables others, such as loved ones, to track their location in real-time.
The pool of GrabTaxi cab drivers is limited at this time (though is said to number in the several hundreds), but if you just try out the GrabTaxi app, you should easily find a few available drivers nearby to you.
GrabTaxi is in a beta period now, and from now until 17 November, each successful booking through the app gives you 10 chances in a raffle to win an iPhone 5S. Unsuccessful bookings will still receive one chance in the raffle.
Singapore is GrabTaxi’s fourth market, having already launched in Malaysia (multiple cities including Kuala Lumpur and Johor), Thailand (Bangkok) and Philippines (Manila). GrabTaxi is the largest taxi-booking mobile app in Southeast Asia.
Find out more about GrabTaxi at: facebook.com/GrabTaxiSG
Downloads: GrabTaxi on iTunes, GrabTaxi on Google Play
Thanks for the coverage Zit Seng 🙂 Do PM Grabtaxi Singapore if you have any feedback. We are always open to suggestions.
Grabtaxi nearest taxi will not get it. I got 1friend 0.01km also can’t get it. Lousy system take care of their elite and rangers drivers only. Bluff drivers say nearest driver get the jobs. End up the jobs given to those elite driver which is 1.10km away. Let the pax waiting for 10mins.