With Uber and Lyft launching their own carpooling services in selected areas and more pressure from environmental groups for the public to help in the decongestion of air pollution, it was only a matter of time before other brands and services joined the bandwagon. Surprisingly, Google-owned Waze is the next one to be experimenting with carpooling as they have launched a pilot program in the Bay Area, specifically in the Silicon Valley area where traffic during rush hour gets pretty ugly.
However, getting a ride through Waze is not that easy. You will have to use two different apps, including your existing Waze app. To look for a ride, you’ll have to use the new Waze Rider app which isn’t open to everyone just yet, but only to select users in the area. Then the “drivers” (who are actually regular people who have cars who are on their way to work) will have to use the regular Waze app to look for passengers. The two apps will be the one to handle the coordination, communication and even the payment.
The Carpool only operates during rush hour because that is one of Google’s goals, which is to help reduce the congestion in the Silicon Valley corridor. Riders are only allowed to carpool twice a day, since that’s what people basically need, going to and from work. What’s weird though is that only one person can ride with one driver, which basically defeats the purpose of carpooling.
But since this is only the pilot program, we will probably expect several changes before it will roll out to other areas. Let’s also see if this in any way will affect Waze’s partnership with Uber and Lyft, since if they bring it to more areas, they will basically be competing with the ride-sharing services.
SOURCE: Waze
