Waze testing new carpool service in San Francisco

Crowd-sourced traffic and navigation app Waze is testing a new carpool feature that it is hoping will lead to reduced congestion on roads. The Google owned company has partnered with companies in the San Francisco Bay Area that have a total of 25,000 employees.

These users will be able to download a free app called Waze Rider allowing them to start or join a current carpool with other Waze users that have the same or similar commute each morning and evening.

The companies participating in the test include UCSF, Adobe and Walmart Global eCommerce have been selected because of their proximity to Google's offices. Having already tested Waze Rider with its own employees, this is a way for Google to extend the reach of their new app.

Waze carpool drivers request that riders pay them the IRS carpooling average of 54 cents per mile per rider to cover gas and wear on their vehicle. For the test period, Waze will not receive a percentage from the drivers. In a similar test conducted last year in Israel, drivers paid Waze 15% of their take.

If this test is successful, we can imagine Google will want to expand it nationally. It would turn into a source of revenue for Waze (and in turn, Google). Waze will be able to make use of its massive user base to truly make something out of this service.




source - Waze | SFGate | AndroidCentral