# Announcing UberPool



## The Geek (May 29, 2014)

http://blog.uber.com/uberpool


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## jakob (Jul 16, 2014)

What a joke, like one kookoo isn't enough to deal with now there will be two


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## The Geek (May 29, 2014)

I'm looking past this, namely to Uber's integration of destination-before-the-ride awareness. This is one of the features that would be great to 'trickle down' so if we are, say at the end of a shift, looking for a rider going our way this could then become possible. One of the few benefits of Side-Car as I understand it.


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## Moofish (Jun 13, 2014)

If it means slightly more pay for drivers, why not. If you have to out of your way to go to 3 different pickups and 3 different drop offs at the same rates, its going to suck for us.


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## Django (May 5, 2014)

Jeeves was on it awhile ago...

https://uberpeople.net/threads/ride-share.384/#post-7692


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

Read about this on Engadget earlier. Could see this working out well for Airport runs. Almost makes us a more convenient airport shuttle, especially for XL/SUV.


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## Joanne (May 7, 2014)

Just saw this on FB a few minutes ago. Everyone is flipping out!!!


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## Django (May 5, 2014)

It makes sense, really if gas goes up a little bit, this kind of convenient easy "ridesharing" could take over transportation.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

I see the rider benefit... But am skeptical of longer term driver benefit... Each pool would take "one potential ride/trip" away from another driver. Does it drive enough additional traffic / use to compensate the loss of dozens/hundreds of pools happening each day per city? Or does it strand extra drivers for additional wait periods?


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

It never mentioned paying the driver more.... Or that he has two ratings to earn on one ride.

Customer: I hate the dork they made me uberpool with so I'll rate one star this trip to let them know.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

I can see it already, two or more customers going at each other
and all of them releasing steam on your rating.....


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

Didn't think of that one LAuberX - good point. 

Potential is high for situations like: Pool a creepy flirtatious person with someone that is having none of that = Horrid 1-3 star ratings in protest of the situation and nothing to do with the drivers service.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

& then add late night alcohol into the pool mix. Oye. Social experiment indeed.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

Customer A is in a hurry to get to work.
Customer B is not ready when we arrive.....
Customer C lives in a gated community but when I call I get the voice mail....


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Customer A is in a hurry to get to work.
> Customer B is not ready when we arrive.....
> Customer C lives in a gated community but when I call I get the voice mail....


pomona yellowcab was part of a city dial-a-ride program, i did 100's, i can tell you share rides suck,
not only for the reason as outlined by ElectroFuzz, you are also turning $25 to $50 in rides, into one $10 to $20 ride


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## UberComic (Apr 17, 2014)

Instead of two drivers getting separate fares, one will have to go without. There's already too many cars out there as it is. I doubt we will get paid enough extra, if at all, to make the extra pickups worthwhile. 

What if two or three passengers are going to the airport? That's a lot of luggage to cram in the back of a smaller car. We've all seen how people treat those overhead bins on airplanes where theres not enough room.


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## dominant7th (Jun 24, 2014)

There's an airport shuttle and if this is like that, it'll take FOREVER to get to the destination. Thank god it's only in SF


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

dominant7th said:


> There's an airport shuttle and if this is like that, it'll take FOREVER to get to the destination. Thank god it's only in SF


For now...


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## jakob (Jul 16, 2014)

I don't see this happening, especially how often we get wrong address from riders, Imagine having someone in the car going for the 2nd pickup and the address given is wrong, now call rider #2 get the right address, which mostly is way off... I never see this happening.


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## UberSonic (Jul 22, 2014)

To really spin things around, in UberPool riders don't rate the drivers. They rate EACH OTHER! Put a mirror up to how much of an ass they are to drivers.


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## dominant7th (Jun 24, 2014)

UberSonic said:


> To really spin things around, in UberPool riders don't rate the drivers. They rate EACH OTHER! Put a mirror up to how much of an ass they are to drivers.


And we'll record the whole debacle w/GoPro's and start our own reality show production company. TaxiCab Confessions meets Survivor.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

It makes sense from a pure efficiency standpoint. As a driver, it looks terrible unless if it seriously increases demand. If the average number of passengers in a ride doubled through pooling of existing requests, the number of rides drops in half. But the total of fares remains the same. The number of drivers is the same. It seems like a 50% pay cut due to the 50% fewer rides. The only compensator would be if rides significantly more than doubled as a result. Not to mention all of this seems even more distracting for a driver plus the potential of passenger interactions gone bad.

I do think I understand what they're trying to do. They really want to be a much bigger part of overall driving. As it is, it may be hard to get enough critical mass to get to that point. Pooling can create significant efficiencies for the riders if done right. So, this may be one of the few tricks left up their sleeves. On the bright side, it may mean they realize they can't cut the actual rates any lower than they are. So they have to move on to other optimizations like this.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

When do we get fareboxes and fixed routes?


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

mp775 said:


> When do we get fareboxes and fixed routes?


Fixed routes, forgot about that. Be on the lookout. That's another optimization technique.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

mp775 said:


> When do we get fareboxes and fixed routes?


Right before they require yellow paint!


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

UberSonic said:


> To really spin things around, in UberPool riders don't rate the drivers. They rate EACH OTHER! Put a mirror up to how much of an ass they are to drivers.


That's Brilliant! !


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## veikveik (Apr 28, 2014)

So I have to pickup one person, then drive around and wait for another person.
So here is a ****ing fun scenario: person #2 is either no show or running late.
Do we wait for him? How long? Person #1 is getting pissed now, and if #2 arrives at last, they go at it.

who the **** came up with this idea again?


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

And who pays for the travel time between person 1 and person 2?


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## Jeeves (Apr 10, 2014)

No need to get upset about all this before it even launches. It's good to discuss how it might work best, but I'm not going to get fired up on speculation. 
I saw this as an inevitable addition to the rideshare platform. 

Ideally it will benefit everyone -
Cheaper for the consumer
Longer fares for drivers (mileage and time will have to still be calculated at the minimum)
The environment loves carpooling
You can be sure Uber will benefit

Of course we won't be surprised if the drivers seemingly take one for the team, but really folks maybe it's time to consider what rideSHARE means and how that differs from a career.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

Jeeves said:


> No need to get upset about all this before it even launches. It's good to discuss how it might work best, but I'm not going to get fired up on speculation.
> I saw this as an inevitable addition to the rideshare platform.
> 
> Ideally it will benefit everyone -
> ...


It looks somewhat serious:
This is rolling out immediately in private beta. ... We will expand the beta more broadly on August 15th.
...Sign up below if you want to be notified when UberPool is live in your area.


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## Jeeves (Apr 10, 2014)

I know it's serious. I'm saying lets not get out britches in a bunch speculating how it might work. 

What we could do is figure out how it should work, and maybe someone at Uber will take note.
In my opinion UberX shouldn't allow more then 3 passengers if they are pooling. The middle seat is a little close for comfort with strangers.
So that would make for 3 possible pickups. How about possible scenarios where the driver is in the suburb, and picks up 3 different passengers on the way into the city. Lets say usual fares are passenger 1) $20 2) $15 3) $10. Lets say UberPool is a 20% savings (Uber loves 20%!) per additional passenger. So these passengers get 40% off. 1) $12 2) $9 3) $6 = $27 fare instead of original $20. The passengers would have to be within 1 mile of original route. Waiting does become a problem, perhaps time off the original route can be added to the detourees fare. Remember Ubers job is going to be to make this concept as simple as possible!

Also, I think the issue of riders not getting along with each other is less then people think. But yea they should be able to rate each other. A pool rating...


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## Seinfeld (Apr 11, 2014)

I noticed in the Uber blog that they say

"Even if we don’t find an UberPool match for you, we’ll give you a discount on your ride."

you might be right Jeeves about the 20% - are you an Uber prophet? Are you Uber Jeeves?

"Imagine reducing that cost by up to another 40%!"


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## Django (May 5, 2014)

I just looked at passenger App and it's not listed SF yet. Although I don't know what "Private beta" means. UberX is surging 2x right now in SF though! Is that everyday for the commute? I read somewhere that 2x is common for SF commute.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

"Private beta" suggests it's open by invitation only.


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## u_no_me (Jun 27, 2014)

Now "Lyft Line"
http://blog.lyft.com/blog/introducing-lyft-line

And Sidecar is already testing something similar in SF


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

u_no_me said:


> Now "Lyft Line"
> http://blog.lyft.com/blog/introducing-lyft-line
> 
> And Sidecar is already testing something similar in SF


I bet you it was a Lyft idea (as usual) that got matched by Uber.
Somehow I can see it working better on Lyft then on Uber.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> I bet you it was a Lyft idea (as usual) that got matched by Uber.
> Somehow I can see it working better on Lyft then on Uber.


Probably was lyft. They're already live with it. Idea started back in April 2014 with Rover acquisition.

Also see the lyft line thread that shows how it works, etc. Passenger requests line, waits a few minutes, gets a fixed price, etc.
https://uberpeople.net/threads/lyft-line.1631/


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## u_no_me (Jun 27, 2014)

It's hard to say whose idea it was, a company called Hitch was first, Sidecar second... as far as I can tell.
Sidecar was actually the first TNC rideshare company, with beta in Fall 2011, available to public Jan 2012, I believe. Uber is not biggest because it is first.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

u_no_me said:


> It's hard to say whose idea it was, a company called Hitch was first, Sidecar second... as far as I can tell.
> Sidecar was actually the first TNC rideshare company, with beta in Fall 2011, available to public Jan 2012, I believe. Uber is not biggest because it is first.


True. Uber seems to do much better at marketing and sponsoring.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

Jeeves said:


> I know it's serious. I'm saying lets not get out britches in a bunch speculating how it might work.


Well that didn't take long to find out how it works. Lyfts version is already live. So, I'd assume they're both going to work similar.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/lyft-line.1631/

Passenger selects option, waits a few minutes with progress showing time left to match, gets a fixed price. And the trip begins. Best I can tell, the driver would get rated by each passenger. So, if there a problem between passengers or a passenger makes them wait etc., the driver rating will take the hit.

This is overall very bad for drivers unless it unleashes a more than compensating increase in the number of rides. Apparently the TNCs believe strongly the price must go even lower to attract more market. They could be right. I'm not sure they were really getting the traction they wanted as is. Time will tell.

This idea is actually an old one called dynamic carpooling. It always failed in the past because of not enough critical mass. I read one of the research papers on it a couple weeks ago. Not achieving critical mass and long wait times were the main reasons previous attempts failed. If anything, this has the potential to make it though with the large use base already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_ridesharing


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

NuRide has been providing a similar service since 2005, except it's free and not real-time.


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## u_no_me (Jun 27, 2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_Van


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

I can only see it working well at closing time at a bar, taking people from say Oak 1 to Santa Monica at closing time.

driving to then waiting for first rider, then driving to and waiting for 2nd rider is not a very "uberlike" experience.

pseudo wanna be's don't share. It's hard to pretend you are in a limo when you are riding in a bus (albeit a short bus)


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> I can only see it working well at closing time at a bar, taking people from say Oak 1 to Santa Monica at closing time.
> 
> driving to then waiting for first rider, then driving to and waiting for 2nd rider is not a very "uberlike" experience.
> 
> pseudo wanna be's don't share. It's hard to pretend you are in a limo when you are riding in a bus (albeit a short bus)


It does seem more of a lyft experience. I wonder how well say a drunk man would mix with a woman passenger. I guess they need to factor that in if they ask for that service. Also, what if each of the passengers says, can you fit my 3 buddies in? Also, it seems there needs to better passenger screening to avoid some legal problems. Drivers already are watched like hawks and run into probems, but passengers have run of the place. I'm not sure but it would seem better if only riders that had 5 rated trips with a 4.7 or higher could use it. Or some higher criteria level.


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## u_no_me (Jun 27, 2014)

Just wondering what happens after the first sexual assault between passengers happens in the back seat, or 2 drunk guys get in a fight. Where's the insurance policy for that?


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

u_no_me said:


> Just wondering what happens after the first sexual assault between passengers happens in the back seat, or 2 drunk guys get in a fight. Where's the insurance policy for that?


Right. We already have incidents like this:
2 minutes into the ride, they bring up anal sex and then when the guy that spilled the beer gets out of my car, he asks me for a ********.​https://uberpeople.net/threads/spilled-entire-beer-in-backseat.1519/

Now multiply those by 100. Right now, the driver just takes it and acts like a buffer. But put two customers together with one pulling that kind of stunt and it's on.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

Jeeves said:


> No need to get upset about all this before it even launches. It's good to discuss how it might work best, but I'm not going to get fired up on speculation.
> I saw this as an inevitable addition to the rideshare platform.
> 
> Ideally it will benefit everyone -
> ...


I see where the customer will benefit.

I can see where Uber could benefit.

But, if we assume an UberPool would be 3 riders, unless UberPool was to triple demand I see drivers as the losers. If there is no expansion in demand then the one driver might do marginally better, while two others don't have rides they might otherwise have had. At triple the demand then the drivers might be back where they were before UberPool, but with the logistical and social problems that an UberPool might entail.

And who do you think will subsidize the rider who they can't match up but still give him a 40% discount off of UberX rates? We already subsidize the first time cancellations. I fear that Uber would shift this cost to us as well.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

Oc_DriverX said:


> I see where the customer will benefit.
> ...And who do you think will subsidize the rider who they can't match up but still give him a 40% discount off of UberX rates? We already subsidize the first time cancellations. I fear that Uber would shift this cost to us as well.


Edit: In the lyft model, the driver is paid based on their time and mileage using standard rates. What the passengers pay is not relevant to the amount the driver receives.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

No matter what - it cuts the amount of rides available to all other drivers that don't receive a pool request.


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## Jeeves (Apr 10, 2014)

It's hard to say if longer fares for drivers are better or if the increased waiting for passengers is worse. Demand in theory will suffer, but Uber will argue that with lower cost to the passengers, more will use it. 

This is all an endless balancing act focussed on a competition war. Only Uber sees the real stats, and only Uber makes the real calls. I believe gas will be $10 within the next 5 years, and carpooling will become more of a necessity anyways.


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

san francisco drivers are the test monkeys for all the mess...
i feel for them


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

there should be an added car type to choose
uber car bus
uberx
uberxl

if u wanna get 2 x3 stars in one ride then go ahead and pick the uber car bus


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

Anybody in the Bay Area done this yet? Stories?


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## UberSF (Jul 30, 2014)

Just got the invite today. Looks like its limited to 2 riders max which makes way more sense than what has been speculated. Im not opting in yet. I want to hear some feedback if its worth doing.

http://blog.uber.com/UberPoolDriver


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

KrisThuy said:


> san francisco drivers are the test monkeys for all the mess...
> i feel for them


Its interesting that you say this. Some would point out that SF remains one of the few areas with liveable rates: $6 minimum, $3 base, $1.50/mi. & $0.30/min.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

UberSF said:


> Just got the invite today. Looks like its limited to 2 riders max which makes way more sense than what has been speculated. Im not opting in yet. I want to hear some feedback if its worth doing.
> 
> http://blog.uber.com/UberPoolDriver


From Uber announcement:
The initial beta test is limited to 2 riders..... for now.


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## TrafficSlayer (Aug 16, 2014)

UberComic said:


> Instead of two drivers getting separate fares, one will have to go without. There's already too many cars out there as it is. I doubt we will get paid enough extra, if at all, to make the extra pickups worthwhile.
> 
> What if two or three passengers are going to the airport? That's a lot of luggage to cram in the back of a smaller car. We've all seen how people treat those overhead bins on airplanes where theres not enough room.


Out here the only thing that makes uber worthwhile during non surge pricing is airport runs because of the flat rate. Imagine picking up 2-3 people on one trip and getting 1 fare instead of the 3.


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## TrafficSlayer (Aug 16, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> From Uber announcement:
> The initial beta test is limited to 2 riders..... for now.


Yeah, but when you make the first drop off, that seat becomes available again. ...


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## TrafficSlayer (Aug 16, 2014)

grams777 said:


> It makes sense from a pure efficiency standpoint. As a driver, it looks terrible unless if it seriously increases demand. If the average number of passengers in a ride doubled through pooling of existing requests, the number of rides drops in half. But the total of fares remains the same. The number of drivers is the same. It seems like a 50% pay cut due to the 50% fewer rides. The only compensator would be if rides significantly more than doubled as a result. Not to mention all of this seems even more distracting for a driver plus the potential of passenger interactions gone bad.
> 
> I do think I understand what they're trying to do. They really want to be a much bigger part of overall driving. As it is, it may be hard to get enough critical mass to get to that point. Pooling can create significant efficiencies for the riders if done right. So, this may be one of the few tricks left up their sleeves. On the bright side, it may mean they realize they can't cut the actual rates any lower than they are. So they have to move on to other optimizations like this.


On a $4 minimum ride, I'm not sure what the incentive for the rider is to pool. Save $2, but the ride is longer and you ride with 1-2 other complete strangers. As low as the rates already are, it doesn't seem worth it to me unless you are taking a long trip.


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## Jordan9K (Jul 6, 2014)

TrafficSlayer said:


> Yeah, but when you make the first drop off, that seat becomes available again. ...


I don't think you'll have a continuous trip. I think once your seats are filled it becomes one trip. Afterwards you'll probably have to "go online" after dropping off the 2nd rider. That would be too monotonous.

I'm optimistic about this UberPool thing.

In a perfect world with plentiful pings having 2 people on one trip with similar destinations would get us more money and we'd spend less gas getting to that would-be 2nd trip.

In our current world, pings aren't plentiful however, the Pool option might change attitudes and cause more people to try. I actually would expect more requests for UberPools during the daytime or off hours. You have to think about the person who will be willing to share an uber. There not selfish, probably sociable, and forward thinking. These people will be majorly millennial-type 20-something that are not in a rush and are laid back.

I believe in this hypothesis because UberPool will be an option and not a requirement. Not everyone will want to Pool, those who do will do so for a reason that has more benefits than drawbacks.

Interested until proven useless..


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

I'm slightly intrigued - but still very concerned about the below until proven otherwise:

Ratings: Even if the customer chose themselves to try Pool and the ride in their opinion was "too far" out of the way / took longer than expected or the other passenger was "not to their liking" --- the driver will suffer in the ratings, as the customer will rate the UberPool experience - not the driver or the actual ride.

Cutting into the Pool (no pun intended) of available riders: The system, if it garners stream - _will cut all available potential rides for other available drivers._ Example: Driver A & B are in "Mid Town" -- and there are two riders going to the Airport - and they both choose Pool. Driver A gets the request - and Driver B has to wait now, for instance for 20 minutes until another rider in "Mid Town" needs a ride.


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## TrafficSlayer (Aug 16, 2014)

Idea for drivers: Buddy up with other drivers, request Lyft Line and Uber Pool rides, strike up a conversation about tips when other pax are in the cars. This way the tip education comes from other "passengers".


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## SPQR (Apr 28, 2014)

Today I made a trip into the city. 29.95 miles, 37.42 minutes, $39.99. I was a little bit surprise after I saw the low fare for such a long trip and realized it's been a UBER pool trip even if I didn't pick anybody else beside the originator of the trip. I think the requests for UBER pool will dramatically increase as it will be a save for the riders with the high possibility there won't be any additional stop during the trip to pick up other riders. For instance, how can you pick another rider while you're on a freeway stuck in traffic or driving at 65 mph? It's another swindle that we have to face. I'm seriously thinking to stop driving for UBER and for anybody else. Taxes, expenses, risks, no worth.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

SPQR said:


> Today I made a trip into the city. 29.95 miles, 37.42 minutes, $39.99. I was a little bit surprise after I saw the low fare for such a long trip and realized it's been a UBER pool trip even if I didn't pick anybody else beside the originator of the trip. I think the requests for UBER pool will dramatically increase as it will be a save for the riders with the high possibility there won't be any additional stop during the trip to pick up other riders. For instance, how can you pick another rider while you're on a freeway stuck in traffic or driving at 65 mph? It's another swindle that we have to face. I'm seriously thinking to stop driving for UBER and for anybody else. Taxes, expenses, risks, no worth.


Is your driver pool fare based on the same fare as the rider pays? The Lyft version supposedly pays the driver based on actual time and distance like a normal fare, not what the rider pays. But perhaps uber is different.


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## UberSF (Jul 30, 2014)

Figured i'd let ya all know. In SF they are forcing UberPool on the drivers. No more choice, unless you accept the ping, click info and next screen with all info is the words UBERPOOL. Choice is to cancel or accept and see what happens. Today i had a rider who said "i selected UberPool for the discount" I said..."Discount only applies until another ping comes in. Luckily for me no ping came in on the route and she paid regular rate. We had a nice chat along the ride. I told her if they are forcing these slashed rates on the driver, alot of us are going to walk and it's already happening. Uber is racing to the bottom with these tactics. I did tell her Uber should market UberX as competitive as a taxi but much nicer drivers, clean cars, fast service to pick you up. She said..."You are right, they should. Every time i call for UberX you guys are here within 5 minutes. I would still take your service over a taxi any day"


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## jakob (Jul 16, 2014)

Problem is, this is going to take a ride from another driver, so more drivers waiting around for a Ping. I personally don't like it at all. But hey, I'm just a driver, so in other words a nobody lol


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## Tommyo (Aug 18, 2014)

another paycut


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## SF CURBSERVER (Oct 15, 2014)

I think uber pool is cheaper I cancel uber pool unless it's a 1.75 and up。 cheao customers knows it's cheaper so they select it. And it's not the same price as uber x. It tells the customer they still get 20 percent off even if they didn't get another rider. So don't touch the pool.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

SF CURBSERVER said:


> So don't touch the pool.


@SF CURBSERVER Would please also post your experience on this thread:

https://uberpeople.net/threads/uberhype-uberpool-reduces-traffic-by-55.4749/


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