Singapore-based Grab launched a child booster seat for its GrabCar fleet about three months ago, and now it is Uber that is heading in the same direction. The ride-hailing giant is rolling out a pilot program involving 100 Uber X cars. These rides will have a folding car seat that can be strapped up for children of height 1.45 meter and below, weighing between 10kg and 25kg. The seats will be equipped with a moveable headrest, adjustable shoulder straps, side impact protection, and it takes about a minute to safely seat a child.
These rides can be booked by paying S$5 more, the passengers can request for an extra car seat by simply swiping to the Extra Seats feature in the app. Warren Tseng, General Manager, Uber Singapore, in a press briefing today mentioned the number of cars having this facility might increase to a “few hundreds” in the coming months.
The driver partners, who will be driving the said cars, will go through an online training component, a half-day training session, and will be certified by a child passenger safety technician to secure the seat safely. Talking about the price of the seats, Tseng said they retail for S$400, and the cost is said to be borne by the drivers at a special rate.
This addresses the issue of carrying an own child booster seats when traveling that parents generally face.
Grab’s on the move too!
Grab had unveiled the option of “GrabFamily” in August last year that facilitates family-friendly rides in Singapore. It had partnered with Cardfoldio, a compact car-seat maker, to make seats available4-6-year-old children weighing between 15-36 kg in GrabCar vehicles.
Today, Grab revealed it is now working with product experts to design car seats for children aged between 1.5 and 3 years. These seats will be introduced with GrabFamily option in the app. They will comply with all the safety standards for toddlers, and will be specifically made for the ride-hailing needs.
Grab has said it about 3000 rides currently have the facility of child car seats, the number being thrice of the count it debuted with. It also adds they are witnessing almost double GrabFamily rides.
Photo: Kenneth Cheng// TODAY
