uberPOOL in Miami aimed at reducing traffic and consumer costs
MIAMI – Aimed at reducing consumer costs and putting a break on Miami-Dade’s growing congestion challenges, today (Nov. 13) Uber announced the launch of a new ridesharing service called uberPOOL.
Miami-Dade will be only a handful of U.S. communities to offer the service, which matches Uber riders heading in the same direction and allowing for lowers costs by splitting the cost of the fare. Uber’s Senior Vice President and Head of Global Operations, Ryan Graves, hosted a special presentation to unveil uberPOOL and how the service will impact riders, drivers and local congestion.
uberPOOL will officially launch in Miami-Dade County next week.
“uberPOOL will become an important supplement to Miami’s transportation system. Launching uberPOOL in Miami is a step in the right direction toward fulfilling our vision for the future that looks a whole lot greener, cleaner, and more efficient thanks to fewer cars and more shared rides,” said Graves.
Held alongside the Wheels Conference, the uberPOOL presentation conducted at TamboWorks, at 5790 Sunset Drive in South Miami, highlighted some of Miami-Dade’s massive congestion and traffic issues. Miami, where 90% of commuters drive alone, has some of the worst traffic in the nation.
According to recent studies, Miami commuters cumulatively wasted nearly 200 million hours and more than 90 million gallons of gas as a result of congestion. On average, this delay cost more than $1,000 per commuter. It is estimated that over $4,444,000,000 has been lost due to congestion in Miami.
“There is no doubt the massive traffic issues in South Florida have a negative economic impact. Eventually, the hope is that uberPOOL will help Miami-Dade seamlessly move the influx of visitors around the city while ultimately relieving congestion by reducing the number of cars on the road,” said Kasra Moshkani, General Manager for Uber in South Florida. “We’re looking to riders and driver-partners to help us test uberPOOL in Miami-Dade, and be part of the next stage of urban transportation.”
Beginning Friday, Nov. 13, Uber will be emailing drivers to alert them of the addition of uberPOOL and offer them extensive resources prior to the launch. The new option benefits Uber’s Driver-Partners by allowing them to maximize their time efficiency, earning more money on longer trips, without the downtime between passengers. When drivers are able to operate more efficiently, the cost for riders drops dramatically.
During the initial period following the Thursday, Nov. 19 launch, Uber is asking for feedback from the first riders and drivers to optimize the experience and fine-tune the product so it’s just as reliable and efficient as other Uber products.
uberPOOL has been operating in other American markets with strong results. In October of this year alone, uberPOOL saved 400,000 miles of driving in LA, nearly 50,000 gallons of gas in San Francisco and avoided nearly 300,000 tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere in Boston.
uberPOOL has become a popular alternative in many major cities. In fact, in San Francisco, where uberPOOL has been offered for over a year, nearly half of all trips are now uberPOOL trips.
