Uber expands pooled ride option to five more cities
The program will launch in Baltimore, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
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Uber on Wednesday announced it's expanding its ride-share program to five more cities as it tries to garner more users as the ride-sharing competition between it and Lyft heats up.
UberX Share will be expanded to Baltimore, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. "in the coming weeks," Shin-Pei Tsay, the head of Cities & Transportation Policy at Uber, said in a post.
The company re-launched the program in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Portland, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh last summer after briefly pausing in 2020.
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The company said it had been "revamping" its pooling option after spending "months of listening to driver and rider feedback," according to Tsay.
"We are now launching UberX Share, I would say, in the right way with economics at work. We are aligning incentives between the rider and the driver and ourselves in terms of pricing as well," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told investors during its first quarter earnings call Tuesday.
After dropping off passengers at a Broadway play, Johan Nijman, a for-hire driver who runs his own service and also drives for Uber on the side, drives through the West Side of Manhattan on Wednesday evening, August 8, 2018 in New York City. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images / Getty Images)
With UberX Share, riders will get an upfront discount. However, if they are matched with a co-rider, they can save up to 20% on the total trip cost, according to Tsay.
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The company also touted that combining rides cuts down on gas usage and vehicle-miles, which will effectively make "transportation more affordable" for drivers.
A Lyft spokesperson said the app is "committed to helping keep drivers and riders safe." (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times / Getty Images)
Uber is also only matching riders that are going in the same direction in order to avoid delays. Riders won't arrive more than eight minutes later than if they chose a UberX ride, Tsay said.
The company plans to launch the program in more cities "soon" though it didn't offer a specific timeframe.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBER | UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC. | 69.71 | -3.54 | -4.83% |
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Before the Wednesday announcement, the company had already been off to a strong start for the year.
During an earnings call on Tuesday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said first-quarter gross bookings for trips were up 40% and delivery was up 8% compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, trip growth and rider engagement reached a post-pandemic high, Khosrowshahi added.
FOX Business' Joe Toppe contributed to this report.