Affordable Pay-Per-Ride Employee Transport Launches in Cebu

16 September 2022 - OfficePartners360 (OP360), a US-owned global BPO company with multiple offices in the Philippines, is one of the first to adopt a technology-based, close-to-door, direct shuttle service that operates on a pay-per-ride basis for employees. The service named "MOBILITY" is provided by SWAT Mobility, a Singapore-based mobility tech company, and delivered in partnership with local fleet operator Tourganize Group of Companies, Inc., also known as Cebu Trip Rent-a-Car, and implementation partner Hagibis Ventures, Inc. (HVI).

OP360 was looking to reduce the agonies of commuting to work for its employees—multiple transfers needed across various modes of transport and long wait times at these transport nodes. The company considered comfort, convenience, cost-savings and efficiency in search for a solution, without having to purchase their own fleet and hire more staff.

MOBILITY is a corporate commuter service that addresses commuting issues and responds to the insurmountable vehicular traffic in the Philippines. While vans and buses are recommended to reduce the number of vehicles, the lack of regulations in Philippine public transport poses too many inconveniences to the Filipino commuter. This impacts corporations and communities with huge losses in costs and productivity. MOBILITY aims to provide an affordable way for employees to commute to work, by reducing multi-modal commutes to a direct commute from home to work, and vice versa, at a reasonable price. 

Unlike most ride-hailing services, MOBILITY rides are priced based on the air distance between the pick-up and drop-off points, instead of the road distance travelled. This keeps the fares charged to employees in check, allowing them to take advantage of the ease and convenience of a short, simple journey while avoiding having to pay exorbitant surge fees.

OP360 engaged SWAT Mobility, with Cebu Trip Rent-a-Car and HVI, to launch MOBILITY for its employees. For OP360’s employees, using this service is as easy as logging into SWAT Mobility’s application and booking a ride from anywhere within the areas of Liloan, Minglanilla, Cebu City and Mactan Island. Seats are guaranteed, and rides are easy to manage and track in real-time via the app. SWAT Mobility’s algorithm determines the most efficient route to ensure employees arrive safely and on time via close-to-door services from the main road closest to their home to the entrance of their office building. The assimilation also enables accurate data capture for easy computation of fares, which are payable via automated salary deduction and have proven to be more cost-effective than multi-modal transportation.

“The salary deduction feature will allow OP360 employees to ride-now, pay-later, which will make it easier for them to manage their transportation budget,”

says Atty Tess Tan, Director for Legal and Compliance of OP360.

“We are excited to be one of the first BPO companies in Cebu to pursue an innovative solution for employee transport. Being a people-first company is an integral part of our employer brand, our people’s safety remains our top priority and we are happy to offer “OP360 Mobility” for our community as a long-term solution to help meet our people’s transportation needs,"

says David Highbloom, Chief Administrative Officer at OP360. He adds,

“We thank our partners at SWAT, Hagibis, and Cebu Trip for this opportunity, and we look forward to offering this service to the rest of our employees in the Philippines.” 

SWAT Mobility has successfully deployed technology-based solutions for employee transport in the Philippines the past few years. The company now intends to scale this new pay-per-ride model for its current and new clients, believing in its value to both the companies and their employees, and the model’s economic viability.

“This pay-per-ride model provides a sustainable way for companies to offer transportation for their employees. Employees are also able to reduce their commuting expenses while enjoying the benefits of direct and comfortable rides to work. We have also made the payment process very straightforward and easy for them. So far, the employees who have tried the service love it, and we are seeing repeated bookings weekly since launch,”

said Theresa Busmente, Head of Philippines, SWAT Mobility. 

The service is expected to be available to about 40,000 employee headcount across 8-9 BPO companies after the first phase of roll-out in Cebu. SWAT Mobility, along with partners Cebu Trip Rent-a-Car and HVI, has already launched with 3 of these companies to date. Theresa adds,

“We are heartened by the uptake in Cebu and we plan to expand this service with more BPO, manufacturing and FMCG companies in the coming year.”