In just a few short years, residents of Malaysia have seen the need for a car become become a lot less important that it used to be. This is due mainly to, as with so many other things, the explosive growth of technology – in this case, the rise of ride-sharing apps and services like Uber, Grab and airport2u. Here’s an look at the three services:

Uber – uber.com

Uber is an ‘online transportation network company’, based in San Francisco, California. Their Uber mobile app allows users with smartphones to submit a trip request which is then distributed to Uber drivers who use their own cars to take the rider to tier destination. The company was estimated to be worth $60 billion in April 2016.

As of April 12, 2016, the service was available in over 60 countries and 404 cities worldwide. Uber was founded  (as ‘UberCab’ in 2009 and started to expand internationally in 2013 expanded internationally. In 2014, it experimented with carpooling features and made other updates.

Here’s an example of a fare:

Klout ranked the San Francisco-based company as the 48th-most powerful company in America in 2014. By late 2015, Uber was estimated to be worth $62.5 billion.  At the timr of writing, Uber is currently only available in Kuala Lumpur.

Grab – grab.com

Grab, formerly known as GrabTaxi, is a mobile car hailing application available in six countries, based in in Southeast Asia. Users make bookings on their smartphones and and drivers receive dispatch orders on theirs. The platform is currently available in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The company aim is to ‘revamp the Southeast Asian taxi industry, making it a safer and more efficient means of transport’.  for the Southeast Asian communities. As of March 2015, the number of taxi drivers registered in the network increased to 75,000, and there are now almost 4 million app users across Southeast Asia.

Here are the fares:

Airport2u – airport2u.com

With a little bit of forward planning, easily the cheapest way to get around KL – more specifically, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA1 and KLIA2), is to use this relatively new app.

Users book a ride in an MPV-type taxi 7-seater taxi, a Proton Exora or Toyota Innova, at least week in advance to guarantee a place.  The services brings together riders leaving from similar locations to save one costs.

Fares to the airport can be as low as RM18 from Klang Valley are paid in full before travelling. Each person is allowed one carry-on-size piece of luggage and one check-in-size piece of luggage.

The ExpatGo Guide to Driving in Malaysia – Index