Uber's Express Pool is Changing the "Carpool Service" Market

Uber has been known to being one of the largest competitors in the "on-demand" transportation industry. While certainly not the first in the market, the term for the "on-demand transportation" service has been coined towards "getting an Uber." With the staple of having a smart phone in today's society, companies likes Uber have been thriving.

The internet business model changed dramatically. You would never have an Uber, you would never had an Instagram, if you didn't have a connected computer in your pocket that didn't also have a camera or a GPS. - Steve Mollenkopf

Uber has been testing the "carpool service" market with experiments such as UberHop and Smart Routes. However, both experiments failed in achieving Uber's goal in both experiments. While Uber can certainly obtain a profit from both of the projects, the actual service was quite different than what Uber has been known for. Along with this, Uber was tapping into a transportation field that they wished to avoid, as said by Ethan Stock, director of product for shared rides at Uber,

There are clearly corridors and routes where it makes sense to put a 60-passenger on that and drive it back and forth in a straight line,” Stock says. “And that is very much what we’re not trying to do here.

Uber's intention with administering a carpool service with their product was to eliminate the issue of drivers facing complication of transporting multiple passengers to a variety of destination. While riders on the other hand were having this service in high regards, Uber wished to please their drivers as well. All these reasons along with Uber's long term goal of reducing the number of vehicles on the road was a primary ignition for the release of Uber's first new product in three years, Express Pool.

How Express Pool will work will be as the following:

1. Uber riders who select Express Pool will be asked to wait a minute or two longer than usual to be matched with a driver.
2. During this addition wait time, Uber’s has designed an algorithm that will zoom through hundreds of different drivers, will simultaneously matching and calculating routes, pickup and drop-off locations. This will also take into consideration additional riders looking for the optimal match for their ride as well.
3. After a match has been finished, riders will be directed to walk a short distance to their pickup location where they will ideally meet with one or two additional riders who were matched with the same driver.
4. Then, the additional riders will be headed to the same general area as the original rider.
5. At the end of the ride, passengers will be dropped off within walking distance to their final destination.

A little visual aid to comprehend that list:

Now the question arises, "Will this affect Uber's profit and user base in a positive or negative manner?" 

The answer?

Currently, both. This is because Uber has had to invest million of dollars into this new product. Uber has even noted that it dropped $6 million between 2014 and 2015 to get UberPool running right, reports BuzzFeed. During that period, Uber also at times had to utilize over $1 million a week to subsidize UberPool in San Francisco alone.

But as Ethan Stock stated,

We think carpooling is very much the way of the future, not only for our service, but we think the transformation of car ownership towards carpooling is going to be tremendously beneficial for cities, for the environment, for all the reasons that we’re very familiar with — congestion, pollution, etc.

Final thoughts?

Uber is not the only transportation service out there that is taking steps towards more services for carpool riders. However, I will have to acknowledge Uber's constant attempts in doing so. I would said give Uber's Express Pool a try, and see for yourself if this really is the right step towards cost efficient and also time efficient carpool service.