SINGAPORE, June 14 — Three months after Grab unveiled a child booster seat for its GrabCar fleet, Uber is following suit as it guns for a slice of the family segment amid stiff competition.
Announcing the move today, Uber said its folding car seat is meant to safely strap up children 1.45m in height and below, who weigh between 10kg and 25kg. Typically, they are between one and 10 years old on average.
The seats will be launched in a pilot involving 100 UberX cars from tomorrow, Uber Singapore general manager Warren Tseng told a press briefing. The ride-hailing platform will ramp this up to "a few hundred" in the months to come.
Such journeys will cost an extra S$5 (RM15.44) for passengers, who can swipe to the Extra Seats feature in the Uber app when booking a ride to request a car seat.
The cost of the seats — which retail for S$400 — will be borne by drivers at a "special rate", Tseng said. Its features include side impact protection, a moveable headrest and adjustable shoulder straps, and the seat takes about a minute to deploy.
Previously, parents wishing to travel in an Uber vehicle with young children would have to bring their own child restraint. Some drivers also provide child seats of their own accord.
Drivers complete an online training component, undergo a half-day training session and are certified to secure the seat safely by a child passenger safety technician.
Saying that there was a "gap" in the market for families travelling with younger children, Tseng told TODAY that while the firm did not rule out extending the seat to its entire UberX fleet eventually, it was not "something ... needed for the market" on that scale.
In March, Grab announced that all its GrabCar vehicles would be outfitted with the child booster seat, enlarging its GrabFamily service, which was introduced in August last year. Available through its partnership with compact car-seat maker Carfoldio, the seat caters for children aged four to seven, who weigh between 15kg and 36kg.
Asked why it took a while for Uber to join the fray, Tseng said the firm did not want to "rush to market", preferring to launch with the right product and partner, and cover as broad an age range as possible. "We also wanted to make sure that the drivers were well equipped and trained to facilitate such a service," he added.
In an update today, Grab said it was working with product experts to design a car seat compliant with safety standards for children aged between 1.5 and 3 years. This will be tailored “specifically for (its) needs in ride-hailing”, and will be light, portable and easy to deploy.
The ride-hailing platform said that, since March, the number of GrabCar vehicles equipped with car seats has tripled to more than 3,000 such cars currently. Its GrabFamily rides have also doubled since. The most popular destinations with this segment? The Singapore Zoo, Universal Studios Singapore and Gardens by the Bay, said Grab. — TODAY
