Shared ride services were suspended in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uber said last week it is bringing back shared rides in available cities and will expand to additional markets this summer.
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Uber is restarting shared rides in a handful of major US cities after a more than two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the company announced on Tuesday. The revamped rideshare carpool option, dubbed UberX Share, is now available in nine cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Uber Pool was a program originally launched in 2014. Uber and Lyft canceled pool rides during the pandemic, fearing that having too many people in a car would spread COVID. Uber has reactivated the program, but they rebranded it with a new name, UberX Share, and made a few changes to benefit the passenger.
Lyft is officially discontinuing shared rides, the latest change the ride-hailing company's new chief executive officer is making in a bid to revamp the platform to compete with Uber Technologies. “The problem with shared trips is that they take people out of their way,” David Risher said in an interview Thursday.
While Uber diversified its business beyond ride-hailing by delivering meals and grocery items, Lyft never did. That arguably hurt the company earlier in the pandemic when fewer customers were traveling but more were ordering items online.
Unaccompanied minors can only use Uber via an approved teen profile in an eligible city. So in any areas that doesn't have UberX Teen or teen profiles, riders under 18 can't use Uber alone. Minors can't request rides, and minors can't ride alone in an Uber even if a parent or guardian says that they requested the ride.
Tipping is optional. You are free to add a tip, and drivers are free to accept tips. How do I leave my driver a tip? The easiest way to tip your driver is through the app.
You're only approved to give rides in the vehicle(s) on your profile. If you want to switch vehicles, make sure the photo on your app matches the new vehicle before giving rides. See instructions for switching your vehicle. Don't bring your friends or family along.
Uber X is the most basic and most widely available service provided by Uber, so it may be the only option available in your location. The other Uber services (UberPOOL, UberBLACK, UberSELECT, etc.) may not be available in your area, or there may not be enough drivers nearby to support those services.