Latest news with #UberXShare
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus
Every few years, a Silicon Valley gig-economy company announces a 'disruptive' innovation that looks a whole lot like a bus. Uber rolled out Smart Routes a decade ago, followed a short time later by the Lyft Shuttle of its biggest competitor. Even Elon Musk gave it a try in 2018 with the 'urban loop system' that never quite materialized beyond the Vegas Strip. And does anyone remember Chariot? Now it's Uber's turn again. The ride-hailing company recently announced Route Share, in which shuttles will travel dozens of fixed routes, with fixed stops, picking up passengers and dropping them off at fixed times. Amid the inevitable jokes about Silicon Valley once again discovering buses are serious questions about what this will mean for struggling transit systems, air quality, and congestion. Uber promised the program, which rolled out in seven cities at the end of May, will bring 'more affordable, more predictable' transportation during peak commuting hours. 'Many of our users, they live in generally the same area, they work in generally the same area, and they commute at the same time,' Sachin Kansal, the company's chief product officer, said during the company's May 14 announcement. 'The concept of Route Share is not new,' he admitted — though he never used the word 'bus.' Instead, pictures of horse-drawn buggies, rickshaws, and pedicabs appeared onscreen. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was a bit more forthcoming when he told The Verge the whole thing is 'to some extent inspired by the bus.' The goal, he said, 'is just to reduce prices to the consumer and then help with congestion and the environment.' But Kevin Shen, who studies this sort of thing at the Union of Concerned Scientists, questions whether Uber's 'next-gen bus' will do much for commuters or the climate. 'Everybody will say, 'Silicon Valley's reinventing the bus again,'' Shen said. 'But it's more like they're reinventing a worse bus.' Five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report that found ride-share services emit 69 percent more planet-warming carbon dioxide and other pollutants than the trips they displace — largely because as many as 40 percent of the miles traveled by Uber and Lyft drivers are driven without a passenger, something called 'deadheading.' That climate disadvantage decreases with pooled services like UberX Share — but it's still not much greener than owning and driving a vehicle, the report noted, unless the car is electric. Beyond the iffy climate benefit lie broader concerns about what this means for the transit systems in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore — and the people who rely on them. 'Transit is a public service, so a transit agency's goal is to serve all of its customers, whether they're rich or poor, whether it's the maximum profit-inducing route or not,' Shen said. The entities that do all of this come with accountability mechanisms — boards, public meetings, vocal riders — to ensure they do what they're supposed to. 'Barely any of that is in place for Uber.' This, he said, is a pivot toward a public-transit model without public accountability. Compounding the threat, Philadelphia and Dallas have struggling transit systems at risk of defunding. The situation is so dire in Philly that it may cut service by nearly 45 percent on July 1 amid a chronic financial crisis. (That, as one Reddit user pointed out, would be good news for Uber.) Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven't fully recovered from COVID-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall. So it's easy to see why companies like Uber see a business opportunity in public transit. Khosrowshahi insists Uber is 'in competition with personal car ownership,' not public transportation. 'Public transport is a teammate,' he told The Verge. But a study released last year by the University of California, Davis found that in three California cities, over half of all ride-hailing trips didn't replace personal cars, they replaced more sustainable modes of getting around, like walking, public transportation, and bicycling. And then there's the fact cities like New York grapple with chronic congestion and don't need more vehicles cluttering crowded streets. During Uber's big announcement, Kansal showed a video of one possible Route Share ride in the Big Apple. It covered about 3 miles from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, which would take about 30 minutes and cost $13. But here's the thing: The addresses are served by three different subway lines. It is possible to commute between those two points, avoid congestion, and arrive sooner, for $2.90. So, yes, Uber Route Share is cheaper than Uber's standard car service (which has gotten 7.2 percent pricier in the past year) — but Route Share is far from the most efficient or economical way to get around in the biggest markets it's launching in. 'If anything,' Shen said, 'it's reducing transit efficiency by gumming up those same routes with even more vehicles.' This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus on Jun 3, 2025.
Metro
17-05-2025
- Business
- Metro
'Uber has innovated so hard… they invented a bus'
Uber is launching a new service in the US called Route Share and the internet isn't impressed. Several social media posters have mocked the offering, saying the company have basically 'invented the bus'. Unveiling Route Share in a blog post, Uber said the service would allow riders to share a car over a predetermined route with with designated pickup points. Speaking at a conference, Uber's head of product Sachin Kansal: 'We ask the riders to walk a few blocks to a predetermined point at a predetermined time to participate in a predetermined route which they will share with a couple of other riders. We call that Route Share.' It will cost up to 50% less than UberX the firm said on its blog, with savings made if you buy subscriptions or prepaid passes. The user goes into their Uber app and puts in where they will be going from and their desired destination and the app will show you nearby routes with pickups available every 20 minutes. The driver will then wait for up to two minutes before the cost rises. Similar to UberX Share, you could be riding with up to two others. One TikTok user, 'Sharkveyno', shared a video of Kansal explaining the concept, before telling viewers: 'Uber made buses. Our brightest, most innovative minds have recreated buses. 'They'll really do anything than have affordable transportation in the United States.' Uber aren't actually the first to test this type of idea. In 2017 Lyft, another US ride hailing service, piloted Shuttle, which worked in a similar fashion. It was never rolled out fully, however. There was also Ford's Chariot, which ran in nine US cities as well as London and offered commuter shuttle services. After launching in 2014, it shut five years later in 2019. Citymapper's Smartbus, which was later known as SmartRide, then simply Ride, didn't fare much better. It launched in 2018 with a fleet of eight-seater buses that picked up and dropped off passengers at fixed points in central London and took specific predetermined routes. It lasted little more than a year. More Trending Uber do actually run a more regular type of bus service in the US and India, which is called Uber Shuttle. It uses normal size buses, which take a predetermined route at set times and users book their seat through the app. Route Share will be available in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore, with more cities to come, according to Uber. It's not clear if the firm plans to bring the service to the UK. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'Armed and dangerous' prisoners escape through hole behind toilet while guard was on break MORE: The UK's 'much needed' only floating train line reopens after eight months MORE: The £14,000,000,000 plan to fix the north's 'broken' rail network
The Herald Scotland
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Herald Scotland
Uber rolling out expansion across the UK
The expansion will be of its UberX Share service, which has been trialled in Bristol since November 2024. Once rolled out, the option will be available in all major UK locations served by Uber except London. What is UberX Share? Service to be expanded across UK Uber said that its UberX Share has been popular with people making leisure trips at night and commuters during its trial in Bristol. The service enables passengers to share cars with other users travelling in the same direction, in return for a cost reduction of up to 20%. The service is designed to add no more than an average of eight minutes to journeys, Uber said. The company added that pairing up passengers aligns with its 'efforts to reduce congestion and emissions in urban areas', as sharing journeys means 'fewer cars are needed to complete trips'. The expansion of the UberX Share service has been hailed as 'a game-changer for affordable, sustainable travel'.
North Wales Chronicle
15-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Uber to roll out ride-sharing across UK in ‘game-changer' for affordable travel
The ride-hailing app company described the expansion of its UberX Share service as 'a game-changer for affordable, sustainable travel'. The option will be available in all major UK locations served by Uber except London by the end of June. It will not be introduced in the capital until later this year because of 'differing local regulations', the company said. UberX Share has been popular with people making leisure trips at night and commuters during a trial running in Bristol since November 2024, Uber said. The service enables passengers to share cars with other users travelling in the same direction, in return for a cost reduction of up to 20%. Uber said it is designed to add no more than an average of eight minutes to journeys. The company added that pairing up passengers aligns with its 'efforts to reduce congestion and emissions in urban areas', as sharing journeys means 'fewer cars are needed to complete trips'. Uber's UK general manager Andrew Brem said: 'UberX Share is a game-changer for affordable, sustainable travel in the UK. 'This service not only helps riders save money, but also reduces the number of vehicles on the road, cutting emissions and helping ease congestion in our towns and cities.' Uber previously offered journey sharing in London under a service named UberPool, but this was suspended in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Leader Live
15-05-2025
- Business
- Leader Live
Uber to roll out ride-sharing across UK in ‘game-changer' for affordable travel
The ride-hailing app company described the expansion of its UberX Share service as 'a game-changer for affordable, sustainable travel'. The option will be available in all major UK locations served by Uber except London by the end of June. It will not be introduced in the capital until later this year because of 'differing local regulations', the company said. UberX Share has been popular with people making leisure trips at night and commuters during a trial running in Bristol since November 2024, Uber said. The service enables passengers to share cars with other users travelling in the same direction, in return for a cost reduction of up to 20%. Uber said it is designed to add no more than an average of eight minutes to journeys. The company added that pairing up passengers aligns with its 'efforts to reduce congestion and emissions in urban areas', as sharing journeys means 'fewer cars are needed to complete trips'. Uber's UK general manager Andrew Brem said: 'UberX Share is a game-changer for affordable, sustainable travel in the UK. 'This service not only helps riders save money, but also reduces the number of vehicles on the road, cutting emissions and helping ease congestion in our towns and cities.' Uber previously offered journey sharing in London under a service named UberPool, but this was suspended in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
