Healthcare Workers in Manila Enjoy Safe and Convenient Commutes

We appreciate the support given by SWAT Mobility, whose technology has helped us fulfil this mission of providing a safe and convenient mobility solution more efficiently, with optimised routes and vehicle utilisation. Their app allows users to book seats, resulting in more convenience offered to the healthcare staff, and it helps with contact tracing for safety. We are happy that the project has been deployed successfully without any COVID-19 infection to any users or drivers.

- Cristina Arevalo, First Vice President, New Mobility Business, Toyota Motor Philippines

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Watch how the service works in a similar deployment in Bangkok, Thailand:

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The Challenge

During COVID-19, public transportation in Manila was limited and inconsistent but the healthcare workers still had to find ways to commute to work, which was not only inconvenient, but also put them at constant risk. 

Furthermore, companies like TMP willingly stepped up to support the Department of Transportation’s ‘Free Ride for Health Workers Program’, whereby organizations give healthcare workers transport for free. 

The need for a mobility solution that would give the medical staff a safer and more convenient commute ensured healthcare workers a peace of mind travelling to and from the hospital during this trying period.

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The Solution

TMF offered 10 safe and demand-responsive shuttles to Philippine General Hospital as part of the mobility solution, with operational support from TMP and Avis, who provided the vehicles. The "Just In Time" software developed by SWAT Mobility was used to operate these shuttles. The software includes an algorithm that generates custom routes based on passenger bookings to ensure that the most efficient route is designed for any particular trip. 

Through making bookings on the SWATBiz passenger app, the staff were able to reserve seats on the transport and know for certain their pick-up locations and the arrival times each day. The new transport gave the staff shorter and direct rides to work and back home, along with guaranteed seats, reducing their worries about commuting in these times. 

In addition, many measures were put in place to ensure the safety of the staff in the COVID-19 climate. The vehicles were each equipped with air purification devices and disinfected regularly, with the seat covers changed frequently. The number of passengers allowed in a vehicle was also limited for social distancing. The "Just In Time" software was used to calculate the optimal number of passengers in order to maximise vehicle utilization while complying with capacity restrictions. Contact tracing among the staff was enabled at the point of boarding through a digital verification feature in the SWATBiz passenger app.

The service supported around 135 healthcare workers with their daily commutes efficiently, with zero users and drivers infected with COVID-19 during the service period. 

Users have also expressed gratitude with the service and the hope that it would extend as it had made their lives easier. The service eventually extended for another month due to the MECQ.‍

Most of us do not own a private car, so we are affected since we need to go to work. Luckily SWATBiz (SWAT Mobility) and Toyota (Mobility Foundation) offered a free ride to us frontliners. I felt safer since it’s a door to door service from home to work and work to home. All units (are) sanitized and cleaned before the rides, and social distancing is strictly implemented. The drivers are friendly and the best of all - convenient booking of rides ahead of time. (The service) has really helped us a lot.‍

- Actual staff/rider at PGH

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