Uber users in six cities will now have a new option when
they open the app.
Uber Express Pool is a twist on the existing UberPool
service.
Instead of door-to-door pickups and drop-offs, customers
that use Express Pool may be instructed to walk a few blocks to a pick-up spot
or from a drop-off point near their destination. They may also have to wait a
few minutes before their trip begins.
In a statement Uber says these modifications will allow it
to “make more optimal matches and provide better, straighter, faster routes
with fewer detours, delivering an even more affordable and consistent option
than Pool to consumers.”
In exchange for giving up door-to-door service, riders will get
rates of up to 30% less than UberPool.
Uber has been testing Express Pool in San Francisco and
Boston and this week is making it available in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles,
Miami, Philadelphia, San Diego and Denver. The company says more cities will be
added in the future.
Uber launched Pool in 2014 and says riders have used it to
share nearly one billion rides. Feedback from some of those customers shaped
the creation of Express Pool, which Uber calls “the next generation of shared
rides.”