Increased fees, long waiting times
On the afternoon of January 13, after a business trip from Hanoi to Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC), Ms. Le Kieu Thy (living in Thu Duc City) spent nearly 45 minutes booking a technology car but there was no driver to pick her up. In the end, she had to walk to the main road to find a traditional taxi driver to go home.
“Two days ago, I encountered a similar situation when I needed to go from the company to the airport. I couldn’t book a car, so I had to ask a friend to take me because it was almost time for my flight. Today, I couldn’t book a car again, so I chose traditional transportation at twice the price,” said Kieu Thy.
Mr. Dang Nguyen (living in District 12) also took a ride-hailing service to District 3, a distance of about 12km, but had to wait more than 30 minutes for a driver to pick him up.
“Normally, for this route, I would only spend about 60,000 VND if I went by motorbike. However, today I had to switch to another company’s service with a price of about 100,000 VND. Anyway, I still had to wait nearly 15 more minutes for a driver to accept the ride,” said Dang Nguyen.
The difficulty in booking technology-based cars has been going on for about a week now, causing many difficulties for people. Mr. Duc Tien - a Grab technology-based car driver said that in recent days, drivers are afraid of traffic jams, driving during rush hour when encountering red lights and having to wait 4-5 times, so many people limit accepting trips.
“Moving slowly is tiring, time-consuming, and wastes gas money, so they turn off the app and wait until there is less traffic to drive. Not to mention, if they get fined, the fine will be very high, it's like working for a whole month for nothing,” Mr. Tien shared.
What does the car company say?
Speaking to Lao Dong, a representative of Be Group said that the unit has recorded a sudden increase in demand for technology-based car bookings recently. This phenomenon largely stems from increased demand at the end of the year with activities such as year-end parties, shopping, express delivery, buying Tet tickets, etc.
In addition, traffic congestion in the city center during rush hours near Tet is also one of the reasons why pick-up and completion times are prolonged, reducing driver productivity.
To best meet customer needs, the company has implemented many solutions including improving maps and navigation features, helping drivers choose optimal routes, avoid traffic jams, shorten distances and reduce travel time.
Strengthening the driver force, the unit continuously recruits and trains new driver partners, the number of drivers by the end of 2024 increased by 30% compared to the beginning of the year. At the same time, use data to forecast peak hours and areas, thereby implementing policies to encourage drivers to increase activities, ensuring timely and effective customer service.
Grab is also making efforts to better meet people's travel needs. At the same time, it is implementing a number of reward programs to encourage driver partners to be more active, along with promotional programs for users.
