Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft continue to be all the rage, and now Google is getting into the game.
Google’s new ride service aims to help San Francisco commuters join carpools. The pilot program began around Google’s California headquarters in May. It arranges rides through the Waze app, which connects fellow commuters. The program will likely expand to be accessible to all Waze users in the San Francisco area this fall.
Google acquired Waze in 2013. The app offers real-time driving directions based on crowd-sourced information.
Waze doesn’t offer rides by paid drivers like Uber and Lyft, instead simply connecting commuters who are headed in the same direction. The company said it wants its fares to be low enough to discourage drivers from operating as taxi drivers. The pilot program charges riders a maximum of 54 cents a mile, and Google isn’t currently taking a cut. Essentially, Google says, the fees are reimbursements for gas.
The development could put Google at odds with Uber, a company it once invested in. In 2013, Google invested $258 billion in Uber. Uber has long used Google’s mapping software but recently began developing its own.
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