If you’re looking to get around Seattle on the cheap this month, uberHOP is a decent option.
Uber’s carpooling service is offering one-way rides for just $1 in February. That’s far cheaper than normal rates, which range from $3.75 to $5 per ride.
uberHOP is a new service that Uber debuted in December which allows people to meet at designated pickup locations and ride together with as many as five others who are traveling on the same route. The idea is to pack more people in one vehicle, thus saving customers money and increasing efficiency for Uber drivers. uberHOP operates during busy commute times: 7 a.m to 10 a.m and 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, Monday through Friday.
GeekWire had a chance to test uberHOP, and you can read about our experience here.
Uber initially offered three routes to pick from and has since expanded to 12 routes:
uberHOP is only being tested in Seattle. Uber, which has raised more than $8 billion, already has an existing carpooling service called UberPool that’s available in several cities worldwide. It’s a little different than uberHOP in that UberPool does not require riders to walk to pre-determined locations, instead having drivers pick up passengers at their exact location.
“The goal is to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road, get as many people in each vehicle as possible, and utilize partner drivers already on the system to their maximum capacity,” Uber Seattle GM Brooke Steger told GeekWire in December. “This is just another experiment with that.”
Given its vast amount of data on rider habits, Uber uses that information to determine which uberHOP routes to utilize. routes. You can see regular uberHOP pricing and route information here.
