There is a new consultant (app) in town which will provide you with the best solutions for cost-saving travels.
Zipster app which is a product of start-up company mobilityX will house information of all public transport operators and of the various private-hire cars in Singapore.
It comes with route planning functions akin to that of Google Maps where it lays out alternative transport options and the time taken to complete the trip. The app will also indicate the cost of the various transport modes.
This app will serve highly useful to commuters who want to compare the prices of various modes of transport. Based on that, app-users can decide on and book the most cost-efficient services.
The app will offer three to five subscription plans which will layout the range of savings options for the various public transports and private-hire cars.
Transport providers such as Grab and Gojek are included in this app. Zipster also provides information for shared electric cars such as BlueSG.
Besides public transport and private-car hire services, information of bike-sharing services such as Anywheel and bus-pooling services such as ShareTransport are available on the app.
SMRT and Toyota Tsusho, the general trading arm of Toyota brand, provide the back up for mobilityX.
This app is positioned to be the first of its kind in Asia, as a one-stop platform for transport and travelling information.
Zipster app was officially launched by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat on Monday, September 18.
He said that the app will provide immense convenience to commuters. He added that this app will be the next disruptor in the land transport industry.
“By integrating mobility services such as public transport, taxis, and car and bicycle sharing, MaaS offers commuters a more streamlined and personalised experience,” said Mr Chee.
Zipster app is an example of a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app. Back in August, OpenGov covered on this topic, of these MaaS apps being the next wave of technology disruption in the land transport scene.
This was said by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Janil Puthucheary at the 16th International Conference Series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport, otherwise known as the Thredbo Conference, held at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on August 27, 2019.
He said that MaaS apps will act as a one-stop service for providing aid to commuters for planning their journeys ahead and for offering various transport modes.
He added that some of the apps allow users to pay a fixed monthly fee via the app and in return receive an unlimited number of rides on public transit. This follows the payment models akin to Netflix where payments are made monthly.
Dr Janil said that the authorities will not be heavily regulating these apps to provide the space and opportunity to drive innovations and to encourage competition.
Since this is a new development within the land transport industry, he said that there should be a cultivation of creativity and innovation for it.
Dr Janil shared that authorities provide transit data to MaaS providers to help them in the enhancement of their services and apps.
Dr Janil suggested that MaaS can focus on point-to-point transport options, such as taxis and private-hire car services since there is an existing detailed layout of Singapore’s public transport network and Zipster has done just that.
Currently, the app is in a trial version and is available for download. The enhanced app which will include more features will be launched in six months.
