Uber is expanding its UberPOOL carpooling service in Seattle, just a few days after Lyft launched something similar in the Emerald City.
Uber first introduced UberPOOL exclusively for rides to and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport late last month after the Port of Seattle launched a pilot program allowing arriving passengers to hail uberX pick-ups at the terminal.
Now the company is making the service available to much of Seattle proper. Already available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and 25 other cities, UberPOOL allows Uber customers to carpool with others who are riding on similar routes.
After selecting an UberPOOL ride, Uber finds another user — or users — heading in the same direction, and puts you all together in one vehicle. Your fellow riders will either be in the vehicle when you are picked up, or will join you along your route. The idea is to reduce the cost of a ride for each user, and increase efficiency for drivers.
One nice aspect of UberPOOL is that it locks in a price before you hail a driver, so you know exactly how much you’ll be paying regardless of traffic or detours required to pick up other passengers. If Uber can’t find any passengers to join you, you’ll still pay the discounted rate.
Uber said that UberPool is 25 percent cheaper than an uberX ride in Seattle; however, there will be a $1.25 fee tagged on to every UberPool trip. Uber is offering $5 UberPOOL rides for a promotional period.
Uber already offers a similar carpooling service in Seattle called uberHOP, but it’s a bit different in that it requires passengers to meet at designated pickup locations, versus drivers picking up and dropping off at individual stops, like with UberPOOL. uberHOP is only being tested in Seattle, where there are 12 routes that run Monday through Friday during the morning and evening commutes.
Uber is bullish about its carpooling service, which already accounts for more than half of all Uber trips in several cities. Last year in Portland, former Uber senior vice president and current advisor David Plouffe called UberPool a “trifecta of goodness,” noting how it is cheaper for the rider, reduces congestion on the road, and brings down vehicle emissions. The New York Times last month penned a story about how UberPool “may push us to re-evaluate how we think about Uber and its impact on the world.”
Lyft, meanwhile, launched its Lyft Line carpooling service in Seattle on Monday.
