Uber’s newest idea will have you participating in the new sharing economy to save a few bucks.
New York would be the third city to participate in Uber’s uberPOOL carpooling program, after San Francisco and Paris.
The service will extend throughout the five boroughs, and will limit the maximum number of uberPOOL riders to two people per request. The maximum number of riders at any given time is still capped at four.
The real draw is the price saving aspect, according to Uber. Sure, you may have to share a cab with a stranger or two, but your fare from Williamsburg to the East Village could go from $16 in a cab to as little as $7.50 in an uberPOOL, according to the company.
Uber isn’t the only car service company offering ride sharing options. Both competitors Lyft and Sidecar have their own carpooling services, all of which have been deemed illegal in California.
The price drop may not be enough to convince people to switch back to Uber, however, after recent revelations showed how the company advocated spying on journalists who wrote unfavorable pieces about its business practices.
If you’re an environmentally conscious cab rider, Uber’s trying to appeal to your eco-friendly side with its carpooling service. “For every fully utilized uberPOOL car on the road, 8 cars could be taken off the road,” reads the company’s post. “And in a city with a record-breaking population and nearly 2 million cars today, uberPOOL can eventually take more than 1 million cars off the road.” The company isn’t clear whether it means 1 million of its own cars or the cars of its competitors.
Either way, the company is rolling out its uberPOOL service on December 4 for iOS users, and on December 8 for Android users.