Uber introduces cheaper ride but it requires walking

Uber has now introduced a more cheaper ‘ride’ for its customers and that requires walking.

Uber app will now have another option of ‘Uber Express Pool’ but in selected cities. The Express Pool contains three individual rides and the three cars would stay on a central, straight path and the rider would have to walk around 1-2 blocks to reach the three separate pickup points accordingly.

As Mashable reports, the company claims that the rates for this kind of ride would be up to 50% less than those of standard ‘Pool’ option and 70% less than ‘UberX’. After a positive response from Boston and San Francisco users, the option is now available for users in Los Angeles, Denver and San Diego. The service will further expand to Washington, D.C., Miami and Philadelphia.

Where standard Pool requires the driver to go at the exact pickup location, Express Pool matches a driver with the riders along a similar route during the trip. Instead of picking up door-to-door, the riders would have to walk to the location to make the most of the trip’s efficiency. The riders would be dropped off a near location, where they would have to walk to the location again.

Engadget explained, when a user hails Uber Express Pool, they would have to wait as the service would take extra 1-2 minutes and will then provide the best route, pick up location, driver and other riders. The app will then direct the rider to a location analyzing the time required to walk as well. Express Pool encloses multiple people to pickup points where users can walk and share the same car.

Ethan Stock, director of shared rides at Uber described, “Walking and waiting help us make more optimal matches and provide better, straighter, faster routes with fewer detours, delivering an even more affordable and consistent option than Pool to consumers.”

The service though seems more like a public transport, Uber does not think so. “We don’t think that this is at all like a bus. Three of the fundamental things about how buses work is they have fixed pickup and drop-off spots, a fixed route and a fixed time schedule that they’re operating on. Everything about the Express Pool product is dynamic,” said Stock, according to The Washington Post.