GrabCar: Opportunities and Challenges for Taxi Operators

Abstract

Taxis, being a significant element of mobility, play a sufficiently great role in public transportation. However, the issues towards taxi services have gradually increased due to the poor services given to passengers by taxi operators, leading to the demand for other ride service alternatives. With the development of technology, GrabCar was developed and launched as an online taxi booking through smartphone application which can easily connect passengers and drivers. The main purpose of this study is to find out the perception of taxi operators towards GrabCar service and vice versa so that there will be a clear point of view to identify opportunities and challenges for taxi operators. Standardized open-ended interviews were conducted with 5 taxi and 5 GrabCar operators in Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Nerus. Interview transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. The findings showed that there were more challenges than opportunities for the taxi operators. This study could help the government to improve taxi services in general and GrabCar services in sharing economy.