SWAT's Technology Can Improve Work Commutes for Singaporeans

SWAT’s technology is able to pool large numbers of commuters with the least number of vehicles, optimising routes dynamically to provide a more efficient form of corporate transport. Aside from improving commutes, we hope to reduce congestion due to private car usage and emissions arising from daily work commute.

The daily commute in Singapore has room for improvement. According to the latest General Household Survey (2015), a majority of the local working population take public transport to work, but the journeys are long, with 85% spending more than 2 hours a day getting to and from work. 69% also transfer at least once. People taking employer-provided transport don’t fare much better; they are usually required to commute to a designated area for pick up, which means longer commutes and more transfers. Commute by private transport accounts for 26.6% of the working population, exacerbating the congestion problem and contributing to environmental damage.

“Corporate transport is not just about moving employees from home to work, it is a form of employee benefit that has a proven effect on retention and staff productivity. We should always continue to look for innovative transport solutions that provide a more comfortable commute experience for employees,”

said Mr Jarrold Ong, Co-founder and CEO of SWAT.

With numerous projects underway and more in the pipeline, SWAT has successfully managed to transform the way people commute across different industries and cities. One of SWAT’s clients, a giant marine and energy company, was looking for a more efficient transport service that provides employees with greater convenience and shorter travelling time, along with better bus utilisation to reduce costs. Previously, they deployed buses to 9 MRT stations around the island to pick up employees in fixed routes.

With SWAT, pickup points expanded to over 200 locations near 80 MRT stations close to employees’ homes. The 1500+ commuters located all around the island meant that the possible permutations of routes are exceedingly large. SWAT’s optimisation algorithm breaks up the locations into zones and computes the optimal solution to meet client requirements. SWAT also provides systems for clients and bus operators to manage their transport operations, allowing them to have greater visibility and control over their resources.

“I am confident their routing technology and easy-to-use passenger apps will continue to help improve work commute for our employees, making it convenient, affordable and comfortable.”

In this case, SWAT reduced the total vehicle miles travelled (VMT) by approximately 30%, a confirmation that this new form of transport is the more environmentally friendly option.

Another one of SWAT’s ongoing projects involves workers who have to get home when public transport is no longer available. SWAT provides an innovative tech solution to a large integrated resort in the hospitality space, offering late-night transport for its employees. SWAT’s solution automatically generates routes 15 minutes before boarding time, ensuring employees are given ride-sharing offers with a fleet of buses. From SWAT’s perspective, this is an efficient and environmentally friendly tech solution which reduces the carbon footprint in transportation, aligned with the movement towards a greener nation.

Governments all over the world are exploring smart city transport solutions to reduce congestion and greenhouse emissions. SWAT has the knowledge and technology to drive this change. Mr Ong is hopeful about SWAT’s future,

“The future of transport lies in technology that can not only make the most efficient use of resources but also directs the flow and movement of vehicles.”  SWAT has worked with governments and corporations to move commuters in volume successfully. He adds,

“I envision our technology going on to solve inefficient transport on an even larger scale, and ultimately help to ease congestion-related problems for everyone.”

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