About 8 months ago, I was recovering from a motorbike accident and laying our significant sums of cash for ride-hailing cars when someone mentioned a new app called GoDee.
Ever since, I’ve been taking a GoDee shuttle to and from the office every day.
The comfortable shuttles all feature, air-conditioning and reclining seats, allowing riders to clean out their email inboxes before even stepping foot in the office or zone out with podcasts and surf the net as a way to unwind after a long day. With friendly drivers and consistent service - the shuttles are generally on-time and rarely more than 5 minutes late even during heavy rush hour periods - the service removes the stress of worrying about making it to a destination or important meeting on time. Moreover, riders are free from the heat, fumes and frustrations of navigating Saigon’s clogged streets.
GoDee’s value proposition is pretty straight-forward. You’ve probably seen the sleek 16-seat corporate employee shuttles whizzing around town. The GoDee app employs such vehicles to act as shuttles between Districts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, Binh Thanh, Tan Phu, Phu Nhuan, Nha Be and District 1 along predetermined routes, making stops at high-demand points along the way - frequently large shopping centers, apartment buildings and schools. There’s often one of these stops within a 5-10 minute walk for most residents who live or work nearby these routes.
Served by modern 16 seat vans, GoDee operates a regular schedule during morning 6:30 am - 11am and evening 3:30pm - 8pm rush hours, often running approximately twice per hour.
4 new routes are slated to come on-line in 9th March 2020 - H8: D5 <-> D2, H9: D1 <-> D9, H10: Vinhomes Central Park <-> Celadon Tan Phu, H11: Vinhomes Central Park <-> D6 - expanding the services offering to 30 lines and 100 vans.
The app is intuitive and easy-to-use - simply select your route, starting and ending points and desired departure time and you’re done. GoDee also offers real-time vehicle tracking so riders know exactly where their shuttles are.
The comfortable shuttles all feature, air-conditioning and reclining seats, allowing riders to clean out their email inboxes before even stepping foot in the office or zone out with podcasts and surf the net as a way to unwind after a long day.
With friendly drivers and consistent service - the shuttles are generally on-time and rarely more than 5 minutes late even during heavy rush hour periods - the service removes the stress of worrying about making it to a destination or important meeting on time. Moreover, riders are free from the heat, fumes and frustrations of navigating Saigon’s clogged streets.
On top of all this, the price point is extremely competitive at VND30,000 per ride, rendering the service cheaper than both car and motorbike fares on popular ride-hailing services. It also allows you to avoid any problematic encounters with Vietnam’s strict new drunk driving laws if you enjoy a happy hour drink after work.
GoDee provides a much-needed public service to Saigon commuters, something made visually clear when opening the app’s map and noticing that the routine lines resemble a metro system.
