SINGAPORE: Gojek users here will have access to a larger pool of vehicles when booking a ride, as the Indonesian ride-hailing firm announced a partnership with taxi operator Trans-Cab.
The deal was announced at an event marking the first anniversary of Gojek’s commercial operations here on Friday (Nov 29).
Trans-Cab is Singapore’s second-largest taxi operator, with a fleet of 2,954 taxis as of September according to figures from the Land Transport Authority.
The move is expected to reduce waiting times for passengers as well as allow Trans-Cab drivers to enjoy the same benefits as Gojek’s private-hire car drivers, which include insurance and medical coverage.
This comes after Gojek had partnered with Trans-Leasing – Trans-Cab’s vehicle rental arm – in May this year.
“As part of the agreement, we are also exploring new joint benefits for Gojek driver-partners and Trans-Cab drivers, including preferential home electricity rates by Union Energy,” said Trans-Cab chief executive officer Teo Kiang Ang, noting the energy provider is Trans-Cab’s parent company.
Trips on Trans-Cab taxis booked through the Gojek app will be priced at a flat rate, rather than by a metered fare.
Gojek co-chief executive officer Andre Soelistyo and Gojek Singapore general manager Lien Choong Luen at an event marking the ride-hailing firm’s first year of business in Singapore on Nov 29 2019.
Gojek Singapore general manager Lien Choong Luen said there will not be an option to choose taxis specifically through the app – an option already available on Grab’s app – though he did not rule out the possibility of such a feature in the future.
Mr Lien noted the Gojek app is likely to allow passengers to choose different vehicle types, such as larger vehicles, by next year, and may eventually also allow for ride-sharing services similar to Grab’s GrabShare service.
In September, Trans-Cab had partnered with local ride-hailing and carpooling start-up Ryde to allow its taxis to be booked through its app.
The taxi operator had also previously tied up with Gojek’s rival Grab for the launch of its JustGrab service.
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Gojek CEO Andre Soelistyo noted the firm had managed to hit 30 million trips in Singapore within its first year here.
He took over the role of CEO last month – together with co-founder Kevin Aluwi – after former CEO Nadiem Makarim left the company to join Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s Cabinet.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Mr Soelistyo noted that while Singapore has only 800,000 active monthly users – compared to 29.2 million users per month in Indonesia – the country is Gojek’s second-largest transport market after Indonesia, based on the amount spent by customers.
While Gojek aims to eventually diversify into offering services such as food delivery and financial services here – which are already available in its home market of Indonesia – it is taking a cautious approach to doing so.
While it has received the financial backing of companies such as Google and TenCent, the firm’s new leadership is focused on making the company “sustainable and enduring” rather than relying on outside funding, said Mr Soelistyo.
“You have to make sure the product speaks for itself, to be able to continue to grow the business,” he added.
“The concept of weaponising capital, that whoever has the biggest balance sheet wins the market, that concept is no longer the right model.”
