By Vincent Mariel P. Galang
GRAB Philippines (MyTaxi.PH, Inc.) unveiled on Monday its “Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap” which aims to address safety concerns of both drivers and passengers.
During its launch on Monday, officials from Grab said the road map aims to raise transport safety standards for the ride-hailing industry.
Grab’s features have been improved, guided by four principles: know who you ride with; get help when you need it; build new and safer habits, and protected at every touchpoint.
For instance, Grab has started using identity validation schemes for drivers and passengers.
“Last month, we started rolling out passenger validation, wherein our new and existing users will have to link their profile. Verify their identity either by linking it to a social account or a credit or debit card,” said Cindy Toh, country marketing head of Grab Philippines, during her speech on Monday.
Grab will soon launch the driver selfie authentication, where drivers can only start to drive after a selfie check.
Grab drivers can also now share their live GPS location with their loved ones, in case anything happens.
Ms. Toh said an emergency button on the Grab app will “connect them to the nearest police station and Grab will partner with an external security agency that can provide immediate assistance when needed.”
To ensure its drivers remain in the right shape to continue driving, Grab is launching a “Driver Fatigue Monitoring Model.”
“It is a smart model taking into account different kinds of data, like the number of hours the driver is on the road, age, shift and total booking he accepts… The system will send out in-app messages reminding you to take a break. This is for the safety of both the drivers and the passengers,” Ms. Toh explained.
On data protection, Grab is making sure its system can detect and prevent any fraud or malicious activities on the platform.
“Safety is not just about physical things… It’s also about fraud detection, putting up secure mechanisms, so that anyone who transact on the app, sure ka na lahat ng data mo [you are sure that all you data] is protected,” Ms. Toh said.
“This tech road map gives a clear framework of how to go about our safety initiatives as we move forward into the future,” she added.
As added safety measure, each Grab car will also have its own first aid kit. Grab is also aiming to create a group of drive safety ambassadors to act as first responders in case of road accidents.
Grab teamed up with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to provide first aid training for its partner-drivers.
