Come April 3rd, Uber will be launching their super budget-conscious UberPOOL service in Australia, specifically the inner-city suburbs of Sydney ahead of a planned nationwide roll out. The service has proven to be incredibly popular in cities like L.A, Austin and New York, with savings of up to half the price of a usual UberX.
It’s all rather simple in how it works. App users are offered the choice of UberPOOL where they share the ride and the cost with others planning to take a similar route. The offset is usually time, as obviously it takes longer for each rider to reach their destination due to more pick up/drop off locations. In the states, you simply select how many seats you require (up to 2) and proceed as you would normally when deciding on where to be picked up; though sometimes this includes walking a minute or two to “designated pick up areas” in particularly busy areas.
At a press conference today, media were briefed on the exact version of UberPOOL Australia will be receiving, with slight tweaks from the already existing service in the U.S and other markets. This basically means there will be a bigger focus on designated pick-up and drop-off spots (which the user will need to walk to using in-app instructions), collated using data gathered by UberX and UberPOOL over the past few years in an attempt to satisfy both riders and drivers.
“It means cheaper rides for passengers and less congestion [debatable] on the city’s streets over time”, said Uber Australia/NZ GM Henry Greenacre. “UberPOOL makes it easy and affordable for people going in a similar direction to share the trip”.
On launch, UberPOOL rides will come with a standard 50% cheaper fare than UberX during peak hours, but savings may be even greater depending on the popularity of the user’s route.
———-
