SINGAPORE — Local ride-hailing firm Ryde has partnered with the second largest taxi fleet in Singapore, Trans-Cab, to allow 3,000 taxis access to private hire bookings on its platform. 

This will also be the first partnership where taxis will be able to access carpool bookings. 

In a press release on Wednesday (Sept 25), Ryde said that from Oct 1, consumers can expect reduced waiting times across all services as a result of the tie-up, while cabbies will have access to additional bookings. 

Responding to queries from TODAY, a spokesperson for Ryde said that Trans-Cab has notified the Public Transport Council about its taxis taking up carpooling jobs.

Cabbies will follow Ryde’s pricing system for both types of jobs, added the spokesperson. 

The move will expand Ryde’s rider fleet to more than 25,000 drivers, which include taxis, private cars and private-hire cars.  

This is the second time Ryde has partnered with a cab company. In 2017, it tied up with the largest taxi company, ComfortDelGro, to allow Ryde users to book Comfort taxis on their app. 

In the same year, the largest ride-hailing firm here, Grab, announced an exclusive partnership with SMRT, which has the third largest taxi fleet with 2,297 cabs as of July. 

GOOD FOR CONSUMERS

Transport experts whom TODAY spoke to said that the new tie-up will benefit consumers as it will provide them with more options when they use ride-hailing apps to make bookings for private-hire cars or taxis.

However, they added that it remains to be seen whether the partnership will boost both Ryde and Trans-Cab’s visibility among consumers such that they can compete with bigger ride-hailing players like Grab and Gojek in the long run.

For example, transport consultant Tham Chen Munn noted that consumers usually have a preferred ride-hailing app that they stick to and would only switch to a different app if they cannot find a car with their go-to app.

However, Dr Terence Fan, a transport specialist from the Singapore Management University, said that he believed the partnership could still motivate more consumers to give the app a chance.

“Previously, the Ryde fleet was so small. Passengers will give up even if they wanted to hire a taxi with the Ryde app. (A larger vehicle fleet) will motivate people to try to use Ryde more,” he said.