If this can help ease up the daily vehicular congestion on our roads by luring more private car owners into taking shared transport network vehicle services (TNVS) instead, then by all means, we should throw our full support to the endeavor.
This is apparently what the Philippines’ Department of Transportation (DOTR) had in mind, as it announced yesterday a collaboration with TNVS provider Grab, and saying “DOTR and Grab agree to provide affordable, seamless mobility for Filipinos.”
The collaboration means Grab will offer carpool services at key locations during peak hours with guaranteed departures in order to maximize car capacity and help reduce road congestion.
DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon visited Grab headquarters in Singapore last week, where he was presented a system that could carry more passengers via a carpool or ride sharing set up, which entails picking up multiple passengers from one pick-up point and dropping them off at their different destinations.
The press announcement said that the system will offer multiple pick-up points and drop off passengers with a similar destination. The carpool sharing set-up will be piloted in the Philippines before the end of 2025.
“President Marcos has stressed that we must move many commuters as possible. This system from Grab will be one of the many ways we can carry more passengers and discourage the use of single-passenger vehicles,” Dizon noted during his meeting with Grab executives at their headquarters in Singapore.
“We would like to thank Grab for offering to provide Filipino commuters with multiple options and ensure they have a safe and comfortable daily commute,” the transport chief said.
Grab also presented the GrabMaps-Pioneer, a multi-modal crowdsourcing for map/route forming through cameras and high-definition 4-wheel vehicle data for Grab partners/drivers.
“Grab PH is the DOTr’s committed partner in providing Filipinos efficient transportation through comfortable and efficient solutions to help commuters save time,” said Grab Philippines managing director and head Ronald Roda.
DOTr said that Dizon and Grab “tackled ways to provide Filipinos with comfortable, affordable and efficient mobility options as part of Marcos’ directive to ensure a commuter-friendly environment.”
The release said: “President Marcos has reiterated the government’s commitment to provide Filipinos with an efficient and modern transport system by actively shifting away from a car-centric model by improving transport infrastructure focused on easing the burden of commuters.”
For us at TessDrive, this DOTr-Grab carpool is a positive and necessary step. But this isn’t the silver bullet, the one program that will solve all our traffic woes. For this carpooling scheme to attract a significant number of private car owners and make a real dent in Metro Manila’s traffic, the service must offer an undeniably superior value proposition centered on overwhelming cost savings and, ideally, time-saving incentives like dedicated lanes.
TessDrive will be looking closely at how this carpool program actually gets implemented. (Story and photos sourced from Department of Transportation-Philippines’ official Facebook page)
Banner photo shows DOTR Sec. Vince Dizon (3rd from right) meeting with executives at Grab Singapore headquarters