Singapore transport app firm rolls out in Manila

Swat's phone-based app allows users to plan routes, navigate drivers to close-to-home pick-up points and track vehicles in real time. PHOTO: SWATMOBILITY.COM

SINGAPORE - Home-grown tech start-up Swat Mobility has teamed up with Toyota Motor Philippines to launch the first corporate smart transportation solution in Manila.

The venture will allow employees and clients of KMC Solutions (KMC), the Philippines' largest co-working and staff leasing service-provider, to book rides through Swat's phone-based app.

The app, which hinges on an innovative algorithm, allows users to plan routes, navigate drivers to close-to-home pick-up points and track vehicles in real time.

Swat has been providing similar services to companies in Singapore for over a year now.

KMC vice-president for people and culture Alex Gomez said: "We implemented shuttle services for our employees and clients, but found that our administrative staff were spending nights and weekends taking bookings, planning, chasing vehicles, and manually reporting.

"Swat's solutions are perfect for addressing our immediate challenges and will allow us to offer sustainable employee transportation benefits in the long term."

The Swat app instantly calculates close-to-door routes according to daily demand, navigating drivers to passengers via the driver app, and tracking all system activity through its interfaces.

It is said to automate 90 per cent of the previous manual work in managing a corporate shuttle fleet while increasing fleet efficiency by 20 to 30 per cent.

Commuters in the Philippines can track their bus to their pick-up point and no longer need to line up and wonder when they are going to get home. Neither would they have to worry again about braving the infamously long lines at Metro Manila's rail stations or packing themselves in jeepneys.

Swat was founded in Singapore in 2016. Since then, it has completed over a million dynamically routed rides worldwide for commuters.

Clients include Sumitomo Corp, Toyota Corp, Transportation for New South Wales and Sembcorp Marine.

Since its inception, the firm has garnered more than US$12 million (S$16.7 million) in funding from investors such as ComfortDelGro, Goldbell Group, iGlobe Partners, the Economic Development Board, SMRT, and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital.

Swat's first Philippine foray was in May, when it provided free rides for health workers with Toyota Mobility Foundation.

Swat Mobility chief executive Jarrold Ong said: "Deploying in the Philippines is especially meaningful because we can directly impact people's lives by significantly reducing their commute time.

"Intelligent transport solutions like ours help fill the gaps in urban transport systems; when applied on a larger scale, we can improve congestion levels and quality of life for people in the Philippines."

Swat expects to launch other projects in the Philippines over the coming weeks - for both private and public transport.

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