Tech

7 Facts About Car-Sharing in S’pore 90% Of S’poreans Don’t Know

2017-12-18 , 5:29 pm

If you were busy figuring out how to go about your journey with the regular train full-day closures, I may have some answers for you.

Just last week, car-sharing operator BlueSG launched Singapore’s “first large-scale electric car-sharing scheme,” according to TODAY.

Since it may look like something new to Singaporeans, here are some facts most people wouldn’t know about:

1.It’s far from new.

Car-sharing has already been a thing in Singapore 20 years ago.

There are at least 5 such operators in Singapore and they’ve been slowly expanding their fleets over the years.

Since then, more people have started to know about their services as well.

2. Players in the market

The oldest player, Car Club, was founded in 1997. It manages a fleet of more than 270 cars, an increase of 95 from the year before.

WhizzCar started in 2003 and has about 150 shared cars. They had only 90 three years ago.

2012 entrant smove had to switch to hybrid vehicles 2 years into operations due to commercial restrictions.

According to its chief operations officer Joseph Ting, smove has now grown to 450 cars in just 3 years.

One of the latest to enter the market, Tribecar, started in 2015 with 10 cars. As of now, it has 250 cars.

Other than the number of cars, membership figures also soared.

The week-old operator BlueSG, started its service last Tuesday with more than 2,000 members.

3.Difficulties in the industry

Ho Kok Kee, managing director of WhizzCar, revealed that car-sharing started to get more attention in 2009 and 2010.

Many Singaporeans were driven away from buying cars due to the high price for car ownership.

Understandable.

smove’s Mr Ting said that one of the challenges to face is that a good number of Singaporeans still do not know the benefits of car-sharing.

They are also deterred due to fear of hidden fees and poor service.

Using a shared car means walking to the nearest car-sharing location to pick up and drop off the car.

On the other hand, a private-hire car does not require users to collect and return the car personally.

Recently, operators have also had to put up with competition from Grab and Uber.

The government is also investing heavily in the public transport system.

Car-Sharing Association (Singapore) president Lai Meng said that “cultural preference” among Singaporeans, the tendency to buy rather than to rent cars, is a main challenge to the industry.

The lack of parking facilities also hinders the industry’s expansion.

“Car-sharing operators do need the support and help of the city planners and authorities to grow,” said Mr Lai.

4.Trying to stay relevant

To attract returning users, Car Club rolled out a loyalty rewards programme that allows members to earn NTUC LinkPoints as they ride with them.

Managing director Gary Ong also revealed that marketing perks were done “in a bigger way” in the last 2 years.

There are a whole range of benefits for members, including a holiday package to Legoland Malaysia.

To make it even more attracting, Car Club even took care of the transport there, by linking up with car-sharing operators overseas so that members can have access to their service while enjoying themselves.

Nice

5.Price

Prices differ between operators by a lot.

Car Club, WhizzCar : $9-$15

Tribecar: From $2 (what???)

BlueSG premium members: $19.80

smove: $50 for 3hrs, $150 for 24hrs

6.Locations

By locations, I am referring to the number of places you can find them!

BlueSG: 30+

Car Club:107

smove:70+

Whizzcar:50+

Tribecar:160+

That’s more than 400 stations islandwide!

7. Convenience

Most of the cars can be booked online while BlueSG operates 24hr.

Say no more to waiting for drivers…

What do you think?

Now that you know car-sharing has been about for many years, does it seem more trustable?

Since you’re here, why not watch a video about an NTU student who went all out to impress his crush, only to end up in…tragedy? Here, watch it and do remember to share it (and also subscribe to Goody Feed YouTube channel)!

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com