SWAT Mobility Shows How Optimized Transportation Services Enhance the Lives of Employees

Mobilizing the immobilized

Manila, August 19, 2020- At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the Philippine government’s responses to the growing number of cases was to suspend public transportation systems. Because of this policy, Filipino workers have been left to either work from home or use their own cars. However, having a private vehicle is a privilege not many Filipinos can afford.

This suspension became a pressing problem for all Filipino workers, but even more so for healthcare workers who are essential in keeping Filipinos healthy and alive during this pandemic. Without the means to safely travel to work, medical frontliners are held back from doing their job.

One of the many organizations who helped to resolve this problem is the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF). Since early May, TMF has provided demand-responsive commuter transport for healthcare workers in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). The technology behind this transport solution is from SWAT Mobility (SWAT).  Knowing that healthcare workers are just as economically affected by the pandemic, TMF provides transportation services free of charge as well.

Using SWAT’s Just In Time booking app, PGH workers can book in advance a ride to pick them up from a close-to-home location and transport them to the hospital. As a way of fully utilizing the vans or buses provided to the PGH workers, the app organizes all bookings and generates routes that are most convenient for the medical frontliners.

TMF executed the same effort in Bangkok, Thailand in April. The foundation, with the support of SWAT’s technology, was able to provide connected and sanitized shuttles to the Rajavithi Hospital. Two medical frontliners who benefitted from the effort said the transportation aid made their overall travel time shorter. They also liked that they did not have to transfer vehicles, crowd themselves at the bus stops or buses, and walk more because TMF arranged close-to-home pick-ups. They generally felt safer in the experience since proper social distancing was practiced in the vehicles.  One frontliner also mentioned that booking with the Just in Time app has been convenient as he did not have to physically arrange a ride with their workplace every day.

Aside from healthcare workers, regular corporate employees are also left immobilized by the temporary shut-down of public transportation systems. It has become more important than ever for companies to provide their employees with corporate shuttles to transport them to and from work. However, one other problem that arose from this is the tedious process of manually dispatching corporate fleets. Such was the case of coworking and staff leasing service provider KMC Solutions (KMC).

The company’s administrative staff initially spent several hours out of their days just to manually organize and dispatch shuttle fleets for their employees and clients. Realizing the problem at hand, KMC also partnered with SWAT in July to automate its organization of company shuttles.

Now equipped with SWAT’s SWATBiz app, KMC employees and clients can also book rides in advance and track vehicles in real-time, eliminating the need for admins to monitor the location of drivers. The app also automatically plans routes and identifies close-to-home pick-up points that KMC’s shuttle drivers can go to. SWAT’s technology has automated 90% of the previously manual work and increased fleet efficiency by 20 to 30%.

“Having corporate fleets has always been a great benefit for employees, but it became even more important amidst the pandemic,” said Nicholas Stipp, Chief Revenue Officer at SWAT Mobility,

“I’m glad to have TMF and KMC as our first few clients in the Philippines. Whether we’re transporting medical frontliners or corporate workers, SWAT is already ready to equip any organization with our technology to enable mobility in the best way possible.”

Transporting employees in the “new normal”

Since its establishment in 2016, SWAT’s mission has always been to provide smart mobility solutions to improve the way commuters move, as well as alleviate traffic congestion in major cities around the world. The company is able to accomplish this mission as it partners with different public and private sector clients in different countries across the Asia Pacific region today.

Through all the aforementioned efforts in the Philippines alone, it is evident that SWAT’s technology can help enhance the lives of Filipino employees amidst the pandemic and possibly in the “new normal” as well. The company is also continuously working to enhance its solutions to ensure that employees get to reap the benefits of employee transportation services.

“The limitation on travel opportunities has become even more detrimental now to Filipino workers, especially our medical frontliners who are essential in keeping everyone alive,” said Stipp,

“As part of our mission, SWAT Mobility will continue working with the public and private sectors to alleviate the transportation burden off of Filipino workers’ shoulders, as well as resolve traffic problems that has always plagued the country.”

With all modes of public transportation remaining suspended in many major cities, both the public and private sectors must work hard, perhaps even together, to enable mobility for Filipino employees in the “new normal.” As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country as well, now’s the time for employers to provide safe and efficient solutions to transport their employees for the sake of their health.

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About SWAT Mobility

SWAT Mobility (SWAT) is a Singapore-based smart mobility solution firm that provides demand-responsive and ride-sharing technology in high capacity vehicles. With the belief that efficient transport is a fundamental right, SWAT endeavours to use its core mobility engine to improve the way people commute, ease congestion and improve their quality of life. 

Founded in 2016, SWAT has completed over a million dynamically-routed rides worldwide for commuters. The firm’s solutions are used by clients across Asia Pacific, including Sumitomo Corporation, Toyota Corporation, Transportation for New South Wales and Sembcorp Marine. Since its inception, the firm has garnered more than US$12 million in funding from investors such as the ComfortDelGro Ventures, Goldbell Group, iGlobe Partners, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) Investments, EDB New Ventures, SMRT Momentum Ventures and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC).

The company is headquartered in Singapore, with operations across seven markets including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.