Uber renames its shared ride service to UberX Share

Uber Technologies Inc. is re-introducing shared ride, which had been halted during the pandemic, with a revised offer aimed at decreasing losses. 

The company said that a test program for its new shared ride feature, which allows strangers to share a car heading in the same direction, has begun in Miami. There are currently no plans to expand the service throughout the United States.

In comparison to a standard ride, the new UberX Share, formerly known as Uber Pool, gives customers a 5 per cent upfront savings, according to the company’s website. While this is less than half the price of Uber Pool rides, it’s still less than half the cost of a private ride.

In order to encourage extra riders to join their journey, passengers who book a shared ride can now get additional discounts in Uber credit instead of cash. If a co-rider joins them, they will receive a minimum of $2 and a maximum of 30% of the total price in Uber credit.

The previous system charged a pool rate regardless of whether or not the passengers ended up sharing the vehicle. The result was that many people were able to reserve a reduced ticket without ever having to actually share the ride. According to data from the mayor of Chicago, between 25 per cent to 40 per cent of all requested shared rides did not wind up being shared prior to the pandemic.

Uber has previously stated that it is losing “substantial sums” as a result of hefty shared-ride discounts, despite the fact that shared rides accounted for a modest fraction prior to the pandemic. 

Uber Pool carpooling was suspended in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 epidemic. Lyft, a competitor of Uber, reinstated shared trips in July after having previously suspended the service in March 2020. It’s a bit like Uber in that only one other person can join you, and everyone must wear a mask to get around the system.

Due to the recent increase in Uber fares, the carpooling option allows the company to provide lower costs, perhaps increasing Uber users. In the meanwhile, it’s unclear when UberX Give will be expanded, and the firm stated on Tuesday that it has no further information to share on future rollout plans to additional cities.