Carpooling gaining momentum

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Explosion of peer-to-peer rideshare services in Singapore, parts of Asia

A slew of peer-to-peer rideshare services have gained popularity in parts of Asia in recent years, a sign that entrepreneurs are bullish that such businesses can become sustainable in their respective markets.

In Singapore, web portals like TompangBuddy and CarpoolKing have long existed as a meetup point for those who are eager to carpool.

However, the scene there is turning a corner. A second wave of rideshare services have gotten significant press coverage. A departure from Dot-Com type enterprises, many of these new startups are mobile-friendly and offer user interfaces that are more suited to modern sensibilities.

These startups can be categorized into carshare and cabshare services. Some straddle both.

Carshare-only: iCarClub is an interesting web service set to launch on 1st November. They are currently building a network of cars and car owners, and testing out a system that enables keyless entry, fuel management, an anti-theft feature, and other bells and whistles. The startup will take a 15% cut of each rental transaction. Car insurance will be included (read more on e27).

Cabshare-only: GoMyWay, launched in August, lets users share a cab with people who are traveling to the same destination. The mobile app has many safety features built-in to protect and ensure the privacy of its users. A similar smartphone app that launched slightly later is Split-It, also developed in Singapore. Both apps use in-app credit purchases to generate revenue. They are facing competition from CabCorner.com, an American startup that recently launched its services in Singapore.

Both: MyRideBuddy and ShareTransport.sg are not just offering carshare and cabshare mobile solutions, they operate web services as well. ShareTransport.sg appears to have had a good start: It claims on its website to have signed up 8,800 members since March 2012. It even has a bus sharing service.

Singapore residents seems open to ridesharing. The high cost of car ownership, which is unlikely to abate, could ensure a strong demand for carpooling. Taxi fares in Singapore are not cheap either. Singaporeans generally feel safe living in the city, and that aids trust-building.

Trust is a big issue, and in cities where crime rates are high, carsharing might be a concept that is treated warily. But this has not stopped a bevy of such services from appearing: