uberPOOL in Singapore: Ride, share and save

Want to hail a ride via an app and save some money? But there is one condition: you have to share the ride with strangers.

If you are up for it, you can download uberPOOL to experience a new way of getting around Singapore as from 1 July.

At the launch of uberPOOL in Singapore on Wednesday (29 June), Chan Park, Uber’s General Manager for Southeast Asia, said the app is about “getting more and more people into fewer cars”, which is line with Singapore’s goal to be a car-lite nation.

When a user selects a destination through uberPOOL, the app finds a driver and matches the request with that from other users nearby who are making a booking at the same time and going to locations near the destination. The driver proceeds to pick up the passengers and drop them off along the way.

With uberPOOL, a user can enjoy fare saving of around 25 per cent, compared with the cost of a ride through a typical e-hailing app.

For uberPOOL drivers, this would translate into more fares since they can pick up more passengers.

uberPOOL has achieved success in cities such as San Francisco and Manila. Since the app’s launch in San Francisco in August 2014, Uber said around half of its rides in the city are booked through uberPOOL.

But a user has to factor the longer time to reach a destination via uberPOOL than other e-hailing apps since an uberPOOL driver has to pick up more than one passenger. Uber said the extra time taken is “less than 10 minutes” on average.

Then there is the possibility of strangers who may chat with a user while on a ride. A quick trawl through Twitter for the hashtag #uberpool shows that some people have reservations about the service:

But this user has given uberPOOL the thumbs up:

So if you want to save money for a ride, do your part to reduce the carbon footprint or are keen to meet new people during a journey, then uberPOOL is for you.