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Title: Waze shuts down its carpool service due to fewer commuters Post by: HCK on August 29, 2022, 04:05:01 pm Waze shuts down its carpool service due to fewer commuters
<p>Fewer people commuting due to the COVID-19 pandemic means fewer people in need of carpools. That’s the reason Google-owned Waze has decided to shutter its six-year-old Carpool (https://www.engadget.com/2018-10-10-wazes-carpooling-service-is-now-available-all-over-the-us.html) app, which matches riders and drivers headed in the same direction, reported (https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23321493/google-waze-carpool-shutting-down-covid-commute)The Verge. The company will begin shutting down the feature this September in the US, Brazil and Israel.</p><p>Waze’s Carpool app primarily was popular with commuters — the service offered a partner program (https://support.google.com/waze/partners/answer/10929285?hl=en) so companies could offer it as a transportation alternative to workers. Waze Carpool drivers would get reimbursed (https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/7/14538064/google-waze-carpool-bay-area-waymo-uber-lyft) (up to 54 cents per mile) in order to pick up passengers who lived on their way to work. Rather than a way to make extra bucks, most Carpool drivers saw it as a way to save on gas (https://twitter.com/LLiu/status/950759813633294336?s=20&t=UNYlq7xXGOT8PdSkjr7l2g).</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>“While Waze was predominantly a commuting app pre-COVID, today the proportion of errands and travel drives have surpassed commutes,” Waze said in a statement given to The Verge.</p><p>The rise of telework and safety precautions during the pandemic has made carpools a lot less popular. Although more people are returning to the office this year, interest in carpools and public transportation ridership (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-27/us-public-transport-recovery-still-several-years-away-s-p-says) has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, the Washington Postnoted (https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/03/19/return-office-driving-commute/). More people are working hybrid work schedules or only stopping by the office for meetings or other events, which make make coordinating carpools or vanpools less convenient. As a result, more people are driving to work alone.</p> Source: Waze shuts down its carpool service due to fewer commuters (https://www.engadget.com/waze-shuts-down-carpool-app-174825025.html?src=rss) |