uberPOOL now available 24/7 in Austin

Seventy six percent of people in the United States commute to work by themselves in their own car. It will come as no surprise to those who travel every day that this kind of congestion lowers productivity and the resulting pollution undermines everyone’s quality of life.

It’s why we’re excited to announce that uberPOOL service is now available around the clock in Austin. UberPOOL enables people going to the same place at the same time to share the journey. It’s all about getting more butts into fewer cars.  This means cheaper rides for passengers and less congestion over time.

“Innovative TNC carpooling services have the potential to greatly improve mobility in Austin.  For riders, these services have the potential to provide convenient, efficient transportation at costs below that of personal vehicle ownership and parking.  For the city as a whole, these services have the potential to remove many single-occupant vehicles from the roads, reducing congestion and emissions and paving the way for a paradigm shift away from personal vehicles and toward on-demand mobility.”

– Rocky Mountain Institute

Here’s how it works:

Cheaper rides for passengers: uberPOOL is more affordable because the cost of the trip is shared.  The fare per trip is set at 25% less than uberX, which is typically our cheapest service–whether Uber pairs you up with another passenger or not.

Less congestion on the capital’s streets: uberPOOL is a convenient way for people going in the same direction at the same time to share the journey. This helps cut congestion and pollution. And because uberPOOL is cheap and easy to use, over time it offers a credible alternative to car ownership. If you can press a button and get an affordable ride across town within minutes at any time of day or night, why bother to own a car at all?

Less time between trips for drivers: uberPOOL means less idle time between paying trips for drivers. It also means more demand overall because as the cost of a trip falls more people use the service– which means more rides for drivers.

uberPOOL will be initially available for journeys starting in central Austin.

FACTS ABOUT uberPOOL:

Since uberPOOL was launched in San Francisco in September 2014, it has expanded to cities around the world, including: Bangalore, Boston, Chengdu, Chicago, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New York City, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Toronto, and Washington D.C.

UberPOOL is a proven model.

In San Francisco, uberPOOL now makes up nearly half of Uber’s trips in the city. In one month alone, the service saved 120 tons of carbon dioxide emissions when compared with non-pooled trips, the equivalent to the output of over 128,000 pounds of coal.

In Los Angeles, riders took more than 5 million uberPOOL trips in the first eight months, saving 7.9 million driving miles. uberPOOL now accounts for more than 30 per cent of Uber’s trips in the city.

In New York City, during the last week of October, nearly 50,000 riders took an uberPOOL trip. In one week alone, more than 60,000 miles of car travel on New York City streets were eliminated by matched uberPOOL trips.