Go-Jek teams up with Blue Bird, will let you order taxis through Go-Jek app

Two of Indonesia’s biggest transportation service companies, Go-Jek and Blue Bird Group, have teamed up in a move that is sure to have a huge impact on other players in the industry – particularly rivals Uber and Grab who have been waging a costly battle to consolidate their positions in the market.

The partnership agreement between rapidly growing motorcycle taxi startup Go-Jek and longtime taxi industry leader Blue Bird was announced yesterday, though details regarding the full extent of the cooperation have not yet been made available to the public.

However, the head of public relations for Blue Bird, Teguh Wijayanto, told Kompas that at least one part of the cooperation would be to allow Blue Bird taxis to be ordered through the Go-Jek app. 

“So later we will provide ease of service through the use of the (Go-Jek app), in addition to our own application, My Blue Bird. So for people who already use these applications there will be a new feature for booking taxis,” Teguh said yesterday, adding that it was hoped that the feature would be available to user before the end of this month. 

Teguh declined to give away other deals of the new partnership, such as what sort of revenue sharing scheme would be used by the two companies for Blue Bird taxis ordered through the Go-Jek app.

Tech industry analysts have suggested that the partnership could be greatly beneficial to both companies, with Go-Jek’s app becoming much more useful by giving its users access to Blue Bird’s enormous fleet of cars while Blue Bird would benefit by having access to Go-Jek’s superior technology.

While the partnership is being hailed as a smart move by many, it might surprise others. At a protest against car-hailing services such as Uber and GrabCar in March, thousands of public transportation workers, including Blue Bird taxi drivers, were seen violently attacking others including Go-Jek drivers. 

Go-Jek also recently launched its own Uber-like car-hailing service called Go-Car that allows users to hail private partner cars. 

At any rate, it will be very interesting to see how this latest twist in the transportation service war plays out. As it has been so far, hopefully it is the consumers who desperately need better, cheaper, transportation services that will win out.