As a private hire driver, most of your work lies on the road. But with frequent traffic congestions and the daily rush hours, navigating the roads in Singapore is not an easy feat. Coupled with strict traffic laws that were put in place to ensure safety, taking on driving as a career option can be tiring and stressful.
As such, to make your driving experience as smooth as possible for you and your passengers, once you’ve completed your Grab or Gojek driver sign up process, be sure to have these top four mobile apps downloaded before hitting the road!
1. Navigation apps
Downloading navigation apps will be your best move as a driver who will frequent the highways in Singapore. Tried and tested as reliable navigating apps, either Google Maps or Waze can help you find the best routes and reach your passenger’s destination in the shortest amount of time possible.
Aside from determining the most efficient routes to take, both Google Maps and Waze can give you a heads-up if you are approaching heavy traffic. Road congestions can be a huge deal, especially when you are trying to maximise your trips during peak hours – where the demand for rides or food delivery are the highest.
Hence, rope in navigation apps as a handy tool to avoid getting caught up in a bottleneck. Waze, for instance, offers you real-time and crowd-sourced traffic information to keep you updated with traffic changes. Additionally, if you manage to arrive at your destination early or deliver your items before the expected time, you might earn a 5-star rating from customers.
2. Parking apps
The days of parking coupons are long gone. In the past, drivers had to pay a fixed parking rate using physical coupons, regardless of whether they parked their car for a minute or half an hour. While this might be a steal for those who used up thirty minutes, the same sentiment doesn’t apply to the former.
But if you have Parking.sg conveniently downloaded on your phone, you get to enjoy reasonable parking fees as you will only be charged based on the number of minutes you had your car parked. This works for drivers like yourselves, who are always on the move, but might need to leave your vehicle parked for a short toilet or lunch break between rides.
What’s more, if you need more time in the carpark, you can simply extend your parking time with a few taps in the Parking.sg app. No more rushing back to your car to get another coupon or looking for shops that sell them! It’s also worth noting that parking coupons will soon be obsolete, so it’s best to hop on these parking apps early to prevent inconveniences to your day-to-day routine.
3. Dedicated traffic apps
While both Google Maps and Waze can help you determine traffic jams fairly accurately, none of these apps show you the road congestion itself. Should you want to ‘see’ the traffic in real-time, you can download the SG Traffic Cam app (for Android phones) or SG Traffic Cameras & Updates app (for Apple phones).
Singapore’s major intersections and expressways have web cameras that snap pictures of the ongoing traffic at fixed intervals. The captured images can then be viewed through these dedicated apps to have a better look at the road’s situation and assess for yourself if you can still drop your passenger at their destination on time.
4. Entertainment apps
No matter how many apps you use to avoid traffic, unfortunately, there will be times when you are left with no alternatives but to go through it. Especially when fetching passengers during peak hours, you can opt for the route with the least traffic but, there are bound to be some inconveniences along the way.
During these times, you might want to have Spotify or Apple Music downloaded on your phone so that you can keep yourself and your passengers entertained while waiting for the traffic to move. Link your music app to your car’s sound system for a better listening experience.
Additionally, one recent feature in Spotify is the enlarged buttons on your title page when your phone has been connected to your car’s stereo. Not only is this more user-friendly, but this interface reduces the need to strain your eyes or split your attention between the app and the road.
Conclusion
Just like any other city, driving around in Singapore can indeed be stressful. But these phone apps should help you get past avoidable inconveniences that you might encounter in your private hire journey. For that, download these apps ahead of time so you can drive with convenience on hand.
Speaking of convenience, here at Cars and Trips, we have the perfect platform for drivers looking for a private hire car rental. With a simple search, you can compare available options and sieve out the best car model to suit your work needs. Drop us a call today at 9170 2773 to find out more.
