A recipe for driving the ride-sharing blues away

I have been a regular user of shared ride-hailing services since their launch in the second half of 2016. It makes economic sense to use UberPool and GrabShare when I am not in a hurry, as they can cost up to 30 per cent less than other rides on Uber and Grab.

Unlike some of my friends, who cannot fathom how one can share a ride with a complete stranger, I am perfectly fine with doing so. It helps that I generally like to observe other people’s social behaviour, and also think that it is more environmentally friendly to share rides.

However, this week’s passage of amendments to the Parking Places Act, which, among other things, will penalise those who park bicycles provided by bike-sharing operators indiscriminately, highlights how some things just do not change.

While technology has disrupted traditional services and brought great benefits to Singaporeans, it appears to have had little impact on the self-centredness that many Singaporeans are notorious for.

Having taken over 300 shared rides, I have had my fair share of not-so-pleasant experiences with fellow passengers and drivers. Some of these reflect Singaporeans’ lack of social graces, while others are just plain unfortunate incidents.

While they have not put me off using the services, I think a bit more common sense from drivers and passengers can make shared rides less of a pain for everyone.

My biggest gripe against drivers is their tendency to openly complain about how they earn less when a shared ride ends up without actually being shared because no compatible bookings have been received.

“GrabShare is to make us drivers lose money,” said one recently, as he lamented how my ride from Margaret Drive to Redhill cost only S$5.50.

That is a fine way to treat a customer, who is, after all, just playing by rules set by the ride-sharing operators themselves!

To be fair, drivers I have spoken to have told me it is not uncommon for passengers to cancel their bookings once they see that they have been matched with another rider.

These passengers want to enjoy the lower cost of shared rides without actually wanting to share and possibly taking a longer time to reach their destinations, the drivers say, rightly adding that this defeats the whole purpose of ride-sharing.

Ride-sharing works only if passengers are prepared for a longer journey in return for a cheaper ride, with drivers duly compensated because they get to collect more than one fare at a go.

If passengers consistently cancel bookings that have been matched, drivers will end up completing a shared ride with only one paying party, at a much lower fare. It is hard to see how this model can be sustainable in the long run.

Another bugbear I have with drivers – particular on Grabshare - is how they sometimes insist on picking up the first passenger who booked the shared ride, even though it makes more sense to get another who is closer to his location first. Drivers who do so inevitably end up making the journey longer, wasting everybody’s time.

Let me illustrate. Say I have made a booking from Redhill to Buona Vista. I can see from my booking screen that my assigned driver is at Redhill MRT.

Bully for me, as it means a short wait, right? Wrong. He heads to Queenstown first, to get a passenger headed for Clementi, before returning to Redhill for me 10-15 minutes later. Worse, we then circle back to Queenstown, because it is en route to Buona Vista.

Some Grabshare drivers say they have been told to pick up the passenger who initiated the ride-sharing trip first.

When asked about this, however, a Grab spokesman said: “The Grab app automatically assigns the order of pick-ups and drop-offs, regardless of the booking sequence.”

Clearly, some drivers do not get it. Either that, or the GPS-based app does not always plot a route that is shortest. Or both.

I am sure regular ride-hailing users would have their fair share of stories about GPS-dependent drivers who are fond of, shall we say, taking the long way home.

There are drivers who have used commonsense in such cases, however. Some tell me they would call both parties in advance to avoid any misunderstanding.

I think all ride-hailing drivers should do likewise. Their companies should encourage them to do so, too.

Of course, this works only if riders play their part and remember that sharing means each of us has to give something up for the benefit of the group.

I have encountered riders who use shared services even though they are in a rush. One, for instance, was in hurry to get to a job interview.

Often, these riders will insist on being dropped off first, even though their destinations are further than others'.

At other times, snide remarks from passengers who do not get their way are par for the course.

In cases like these, I don’t envy the drivers.

Some tell me they have stopped accepting shared bookings because they no longer want to deal with unreasonable demands from riders.

Here, I think the rail-hailing companies ought to do more to educate customers that their technology can be depended upon to make the most intelligent, efficient decisions.

But enough about others. How can we be more gracious and considerate?

If you are going to be dropped off first, but your drop-off point requires the driver to make a detour or a distant U-turn, can you perhaps cross the road and save the other party five minutes?

Do you lower your volume if you need to speak on the phone while sharing a ride?

If you are riding alone, do you take the front seat so that a couple sharing with you can take the back seats and not have to split up? And do you recline your seat so far back that customers in the rear are uncomfortable?

Sharing rides makes sense financially, and it is perhaps not a surprise that they are generally popular.

A Uber spokesman told TODAY that more than a third of its rides are now on UberPool.

This has translated into more than 29,000,000 kilometres saved, the spokesman added.

Grab said both GrabShare and GrabHitch – its non-commercial social car-pooling service that matches drivers and passengers who are travelling along the same route - have been growing in popularity ever since their launch.

“The number of GrabShare and GrabHitch rides in Singapore has doubled in the past year, suggesting that more Singaporeans are increasingly open to the concept of ride-sharing,” said a Grab spokesman.

“Last year, Grab reduced more than 15 million kg of carbon emissions in Singapore alone. This is equivalent to the emissions produced by the electricity consumption of 7,500 four-room HDB flats in an entire year”, he added.

Seen in this way, shared rides can go a long way towards making Singapore car-lite.

Passengers and drivers alike should start thinking about how they can help play their part in helping Singapore achieve this vision.