Following up on its previous announcement Uber is now ready to bring its carpooling service UberPool to New York. Launching tomorrow, the service will initially be limited to iOS users, with Android getting the option next week.
As the name suggests, UberPool lets you share a ride and split the cost with another person requesting a ride on a similar route. The company claims that the service cuts costs by up to 40 percent when compared to its UberX offering -- the discount is available even if the service fails to find a match.
"On any given day, the vast majority of uberX trips in NYC have a “lookalike” trip—a trip that starts near, ends near, and is happening around the same time as another trip," Uber said in a blog post. "Most of these trips transport 1-2 people, leaving 2-3 empty seats. With uberPOOL we can match those lookalike trips together."
UberPool was first launched as a limited beta in San Francisco Bay Area back in August, followed by a full roll-out the next month. The service, which was launched in Paris last month, is expected to launch in London by the end of the year.
Uber is not the only company offering a carpooling service; rival Lyft announced a similar service, dubbed Lyft Line, just a day after the UberPool announcement, with discounts as high as 60 percent. Not to be left behind was Sidecar, which followed suit by announcing Shared Rides.
Back in September, the California Public Utilities Commission sent a letter to all three companies, warning them that their respective carpooling services violated state law.
https://www.techspot.com/news/59049-uber-rolling-out-carpooling-service-new-york-week.html
