Ride-hailing app Grab commits to ease Manila’s traffic amid regulatory woes

SINGAPORE—Grab, a regional ride-hailing tech giant that allows passengers to book taxi rides and private cars on their smartphones, will continue to work with the Philippine government in helping solve traffic congestion in Metro Manila despite facing regulatory hurdles.

Grab, which has been downloaded on 11 million smartphone devices and has expanded to six Southeast Asian countries since its launch in 2012, would continue to collaborate with regulators, including the Philippines that passed landmark ride-sharing regulations in 2015, co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan said on Thursday.

Grab was formerly GrabTaxi.

“We want to find even better ways to help solve local traffic problems like in C-5 and Edsa. These are things that we think about a lot,” Tan, referring to two of Metro Manila’s most congested thoroughfares, said in a media event here where the company announced its rebranding.

Metro Manila’s multihour traffic jams have made headlines in the Philippines and abroad. The metropolis suffers from the effects of urban congestion, with its population of 12 million and ageing and inefficient mass transport systems like the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 that runs along Edsa.

More recently, critics of the ride-sharing sector said these platforms were contributing to the traffic situation, citing passenger car sales that the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. said jumped almost 29 percent to 116,381 units in 2015.

Grab, which mainly competes with US-based Uber and traditional taxi services, has been rolling out new solutions to combat traffic but has faced challenges along the way.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) this week said it ordered the company to halt the operations of its popular GrabBike service, which ferries passengers using motorcycles. The LTFRB argued it has yet to issue guidelines allowing this service.

Cheryl Goh, Grab vice president for regional marketing, said the company would continue discussions with the LTFRB on how to move regulations forward since GrabBike offered a solution to road congestion such as it did in other parts of the region like Indonesia.

“Traffic in the Philippines is not a joke. But Indonesia is a monster. It has the worst traffic jams,” Goh told Manila-based media on the sidelines of the same event. “Winning in Southeast Asia means you have to convince governments. We need to work with them, you cannot be at war with them.”

“Legislation needs to move [forward]. This is something that, through discussions, is possible,” she added.

Grab is also offering new features in line with its rebranding effort apart from the establishment of engineering centers, one each in Seattle, US, Beijing, China and Singapore.

Grab, which is present in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, said it has about 200,000 drivers on its network servicing some 1.5 million bookings per day.

The company claims to control about 95 percent of the market share in the third-party taxi booking app business and over 50 percent for private car booking in Southeast Asia. Apart from car and bike bookings, it offers last mile delivery via GrabExpress and GrabHitch, a carpooling service not yet available in the Philippines.