Waze is a great tool to get you there if you are driving your own car, and soon it may be your go-to app when you want someone else to do the driving.
The Wall Street Journal reports the navigation tool that has tested ride-sharing capability in San Francisco and Israel is ready to branch out, reportedly testing markets here in the United States and Latin America. The Tech Times has more on the eventual rollout, including a description of the service for those who have yet to try out Waze Carpool in its initial markets.
Unfortunately, there is no word as to timing or specific cities that will get the Waze Carpool treatment.
However, The Next Web has something for the rumor mill: "the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo might be first on the list, as CEO Noam Bardin said he had a meeting with its mayor recently."
As for timing, "The expansion will take place over the next several months," via TNW.
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Now those used to Uber and Lyft will have a learning curve as pertains to Waze Carpool. It's a different kind of service with perhaps a similar end for its users.
As described by other reports, Waze's service allows for users to hail rides from people that are going in the same direction.
Essentially, drivers carry on with their day but pick up people if they so choose or their itinerary allows for it.
Consider it hitchhiking for a new generation whose collective thumbs are so preoccupied with their smartphones they can't stick them out to catch a ride.
Alternatively, Uber and Lyft allow for travelers to specify where they are going by hiring someone to pick them up and drop them off at a destination.
As for compensation, The Tech Times explains Waze Carpool drivers will make money if they let perfect strangers ride shotgun on the way to work.
Noah Bardim, Waze's CEO, via the Wall Street Journal, spoke to this exact conundrum: "Can we get the average person on his way to work to pick someone up and drop them off once in a while? That's the biggest challenge."
If they so choose, they will be compensated at about 54 cents per mile and, perhaps, another 15 percent fee on top, via The Tech Times.
There are obvious hiccups, especially in the security department, as Waze Carpool wouldn't necessarily have a careful vetting process for drivers who are simply willing to use their app to find someone going their way.
Plus, as echoed by others, there is an obvious advantage in that you can dictate where you want to go with Uber and Lyft. With Waze, you are beholden to whoever might be headed in your respective direction. This would work wonderfully if you are headed to the airport, but it may not be as efficient if you are leaving the airport for a boutique hotel on the edge of town or some Airbnb in a specific location.
Fortunate for us, this just means travelers will soon have another option in the ground transportation market.
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