Uber tests out new feature letting people wait for cheaper rides
The feature is currently being tested on Uber employees in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but may be rolling out to consumers soon.
Trying to time your Uber ride so you get the lowest fare is always a bit of a gamble, but now, the company is testing out a feature that would let you opt to wait to get a cheaper ride. Penny pinchers rejoice!
The feature is being tested on Uber employees first in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as evidenced by a now-deleted tweet from and confirmed by an Uber representative. The screenshot shows the app offering a 25 percent cheaper ride if the rider was willing to wait four minutes. Not a bad deal.
Uber is experimenting with a number of ways to offer riders cheaper fares, the latest of which allows users to wait for prices to drop.
"Affordability is a top reason riders choose shared rides, and we're internally experimenting with a way to save money in exchange for a later pickup," said an Uber spokesperson in an email to the website Quartz.
This isn't the only way that Uber is trying to offer riders lower-cost rides. One thing the company is experimenting with is called Express Pool which directs riders to a nearby street corner where they will (ideally) get picked up along with several other passengers. It's an even less-convenient version of UberPool (or Lyft Line if you aren't an Uber-er).
Will we now see Lyft adopt this feature too, in the seemingly never-ending battle of pink versus black? Well, if history teaches us anything, we're betting on "yes."
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