Grab pilots e-scooter sharing service in NUS

Users will need to download the GrabWheels app to avail the service.

Grab’s innovation arm, Grab Ventures, has introduced an electric scooter (e-scooter) sharing service in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS), an announcement revealed.

During the three-month trial which already started on 19 November, e-scooters are deployed across eight parking stations on the NUS Kent Ridge campus to offer a green transportation option for NUS staff and students. The number of parking locations will be increased progressively to 30 by the end of December 2018.

During the pilot period, riders will pay a special rate of $0.20 for every 30 minutes of use which can be paid through Grab’s e-wallet, GrabPay. All rides come inclusive of insurance coverage.

“This partnership with Grab not only provides a last-mile transportation option for NUS students and staff, but it also offers interesting research opportunities to develop innovative mobility solutions that could shape the future of urban transportation,” NUS senior vice president for campus infrastructure Yong Kwet Yew said in a statement.

Also read: Grab to add 200 electric vehicles to fleet in 2019

Grab’s new shared active mobility app GrabWheels is also being tested for the first time in Singapore in conjunction with the trial.

To use the scooters, users will need to download the GrabWheels Beta app and link to the main app to set up the application. Riders can then go to any of the designated parking locations to get an e-scooter which they can unlock using the GrabWheels Beta app.

“Upon reach the destination, the app will direct the rider to return the e-scooter to the nearest parking location,” the parties said in a joint statement. “The rider can only end the trip and lock the e-scooter by scanning a specific QR code.”

Every evening, Grab’s operations team will collect all e-scooters, recharge them and return them to their original parking locations for use the next day.