Grab Plans to Add More Cars to Meet Holiday Demand

(SPOT.ph) Grab is ramping up its operations by adding more cars to its fleet in anticipation of the surge in demand come holiday season.

Ronald Roda, the Country Head for Grab Philippines, said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has already approved the deployment of 5,000 transport network vehicle services (TNVS), with the potential for an additional 5,000 in the next months if the demand continues to climb as expected. 

“Every year, the expectation increases because people are more and more reliant on us. The way I look at Christmas is: How do we deliver joy to customers? To do that, we have a few interesting initiatives—the first is to work on supply,” Roda told ANC Market Edge. "We are not even approaching what we were in 2019. So maybe with the next 5,000 or 10,000 cars, we will reach pre-pandemic levels.”

In a follow-up statement, Roda clarified that the slots are available to all qualified TNVS providers, not just Grab: “Ang mga slots din na ito ay hindi exclusive sa Grab. Ito ay bahagi ng common pool ng lahat ng TNVS players sa bansa.” 

How many slots Grab will end up securing in the initial 5,000 TNVS will be dependent on the number of driver applicants. According to Roda, the final count will hinge on the speed at which they can process and onboard new drivers, but he is confident there should be enough time to prepare by the peak months of November and December. 

As of April, the LTFRB reported that there are already 23,000 TNVS units on the road.

Also read: Here’s How You Can Get 10% Off on 60 Grab Car Rides

Will Grab fares also surge during the holiday season?

In the same interview, Roda explained that higher demand does not necessarily lead to higher fares.

“That's an interesting construct. In the past, we looked at it from a price and surge standpoint. I think there are better ways to enable affordability and meet the demand for the holidays,” Roda said, highlighting features like GrabCar Saver and Share With Friends.

These options help customers save money—GrabCar Saver by offering lower fares for longer wait times and Share With Friends by allowing riders to share trips with others headed in the same direction.

“Opaque algorithm”

In July, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PICJ) noted a lack of transparency on Grab's surge pricing. Specifically, PCIJ research found that “surge charges were always included in the fares.”

“Like other modes of public transportation, Grab’s fare is a combination of the base fare (P45) and increments based on distance (P15 per kilometer) and duration (P2 per minute). But unlike jeepneys, buses, and taxis, the company applies 'surge pricing' that is supposed to be based on supply and demand. This part is opaque,” PICJ wrote in its report. “It’s difficult to find out if demand did outpace supply because only Grab has access to this data.”

In response, Grab clarified to PICJ that the pricing “operates dynamically to ensure that fare adjustments reflect the real-time market conditions. Surge is not manually set, but run by a real-time algorithm.” This dynamic pricing encourages drivers to hit the road during rain or heavy traffic when they might not otherwise be, Grab told SPOT.ph, allowing the company to balance supply and demand.

Also read: Could We Finally Be Getting Cheaper Grab Rides With This New Feature?

UPDATED (October 4, 2024): This article was updated to include Roda's clarification that the 5,000 new TNVS slots are not exclusive to Grab.