Grab launches GrabCycle app with 4 bike- and PMD-sharing operators

SINGAPORE — Ride-hailing firm Grab is muscling into the shared bicycle and personal mobility device (PMD) space with the launch of a new app, in partnership with four local operators.

Announcing GrabCycle — touted as South-east Asia’s first personal mobility marketplace — Grab said on Friday (March 9) that the app brings together bike-sharing operators oBike, GBikes and Anywheel, as well as PMD-sharing operator Popscoot, into a single platform.

Currently in beta-testing stage, the app is not available for download yet, but the company said users can expect an island-wide roll-out “very soon”, within the first half of this year. Pricing details, as well as the number of shared bikes and PMDs available on the platform, are still being worked out and will be announced later.

GrabCycle users can link the new app to the main Grab app, and use their GrabPay credits to pay for shared bikes and e-scooters offered by the four partner operators across the island. Meanwhile, the four operators will continue running their own platforms and apps.

The new app is a pilot project by GrabVentures, the firm’s innovation arm to test new mobility and payment concepts.

For a start, there will be dedicated GrabCycle bike parking stations at Sentosa, the first app’s venue partner, as part of the company’s efforts to curb indiscriminate parking of shared bikes. Those who park their bikes indiscriminately will be subject to a penalty, which is still being discussed.

Grab has also partnered homegrown supply chain solutions company YCH Group to manage proper parking and rebalancing of GrabCycle bikes at its venue partners’ locations.

Mr Reuben Lai, head of GrabVentures, told reporters at the launch on Friday that the company is talking to “multiple venue partners”, which will include shopping malls, attractions and possibly industrial parks. It is also looking at partnering other bike- and PMD-sharing operators.

“In industrial parks where it may be slightly more inaccessible, we want to give riders the chance to get around in a very convenient way,” he added.

Grab will study commuting patterns to find out where riders tend to pick up and drop off their bikes. This data can help them identify and build new cycling pathways and common parking spots, Mr Lai noted.

About one in five car commutes in the country are 3km and under, something that GrabCycle hopes to target by getting users to switch to cycling or riding PMDs. Grab’s internal research also revealed that almost three quarters of bike-sharing users ranked the ease of finding a bicycle as the top factor for considering which bike-sharing app to use.

While GrabCycle is a separate app, Mr Lai said the company is not ruling out the possibility of integrating its services into the main Grab app “if consumers prefer it”.

Smaller operators like Anywheel and Popscoot said they hope to tap on Grab’s reach to gain exposure and market-share.

Popscoot, for example, has about 100 e-scooters in its fleet, with several trial stations in several areas such as Jurong and the downtown area.

Anywheel, which started operations only in August last year, has not even officially launched its service. With 4,000 bikes in its stable, founder Htay Aung told TODAY: “With our partnership, we hope to utilise our bicycles more and reduce wastage of bicycles when they are just parked and people don’t use them.”

For oBike, the partnership is a “great opportunity to grow and become a fleet transport eco-system”, said its general manager Tim Phang.

The latest tie-up came on the heels of oBike and Grab’s announcement in January that the Grab’s e-payment system, GrabPay, is being integrated into the oBike app.

An integrated app like GrabCycle could reduce transaction costs for consumers as they do not have to check multiple apps and use different payment options, transport economist Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences noted.

“Whether it is profitable really depends on pricing and how competitive Grab is in ride-sharing versus bike-sharing.

“In the bigger perspective, all markets with a network effect — including both bicycle-sharing and private hire — tend towards centralisation, because a big operator can more efficiently match supply and demand. So it makes sense that these types of tie-ups are happening,” Dr Theseira said.

Adding that Grab’s vision is to work towards offering “multi-modal transport services”, which is integrated with trains and buses, Mr Lai said: “In general, it’s good for Singapore because it really lubricates the whole community experience.”

Asked to comment on the authorities’ latest announcements that ride-hailing operators would be subject to more regulations and possibly licensing to prevent monopoly, Grab Singapore’s head Lim Kell Jay told TODAY his company “welcomes the regulations to keep the environment competitive”, and that it has been “working quite well” with the Land Transport Authority.

Mr Lai also added he will leave it to the Competition Commission of Singapore to assess if there is a monopoly.

Both men, however, declined to address rumours that Grab is close to signing a deal to take over rival ride-hailing company Uber’s South-east Asia’s business. They just said that the firm does not comment on speculation.