Grab: Only 35,000 cars for 600,000 daily bookings

MANILA, Philippines — Ride-sharing company Grab blamed the low supply of vehicles and drivers for the difficulty in booking rides.

In a statement yesterday, Grab admitted that there are only around 35,000 vehicles operating to serve 600,000 bookings per day.

“This overflow in demand and severe undersupply of cars has currently resulted in long waits or not getting allocated a vehicle at all,” the company added.

Grab is appealing to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to allow displaced Uber drivers to operate under the transport network company (TNC) of their choice, given the overflow of demand after Grab’s acquisition of Uber.

Grab country head Brian Cu explained that before Grab’s acquisition of Uber, Grab, with 24,000 vehicles, served 60-65 percent of bookings, while Uber served around 50 percent with its 19,000 vehicles.

Of the 19,000 active Uber vehicles, only 11,000 moved to Grab.

Grab said a majority of the current gap between demand and supply is due to the 6,000 active Uber drivers who could no longer continue driving as they were not part of the LTFRB’s audited masterlist.

This has resulted in only 53 percent of passengers able to get a ride on their first booking attempt, but this goes down to as low as 37 percent on average during peak hours.

Cu said that the demand and supply situation in the transport network service in the Philippines is serious and needs the collaboration of regulators and TNCs.

“We need more cars to serve the riding public. We appeal to the LTFRB to allow the displaced 6,000 Uber drivers who are not part of the masterlist to continue driving with their chosen TNC in order to support the demand,” Cu said.

With an average of 12 rides a day, this is already an additional 72,000 rides, which can help ease the plight of the riders, Cu added.

Cu also debunked the sentiments of riders on social media regarding the inability to get a ride, which they blamed on choosy drivers. He explained that this is caused by the lack of available cars in the area.

“We are reassuring the riding public that we are addressing their concern regarding undisciplined drivers and we are thankful for their understanding of the current situation,” Cu said.

He also encouraged riders to maximize available vehicles by sharing their ride with other passengers using GrabShare.

Grab country marketing head Cindy Toh said the company will continue to refine its incentives structure to support its partner drivers.

“We thank our passengers for their understanding and for pushing us to improve. We are hopeful we can all work together to ensure the sustainability of the industry,” she added.