The Return of UberPool? Uber Will Revive Shared Rides Under a New Name

After a long hiatus due to COVID safety concerns, Uber is finally bringing back shared ride services under a new name, but with similar features. 

UberX Share has officially launched in nine US cities—New York City, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Indianapolis, Portland, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.

With this new service, passengers can be paired up with co-riders, with a discount on their total fare. Uber will only pair riders who are headed in the same direction to cut down on unnecessary travel time. The brand's goal is to get passengers to their destinations no more than eight minutes after a standard UberX ride. 

If a passenger ends up with no co-rider (which is possible), there will still be an up-front discount on the ride fare, although it will vary in amount. 

UberX Share is a redesign of UberPool, which, while popular, was not without faults: travel times soared for passengers, and drivers reported making less money per passenger on shared rides. This revamping came about "after months of listening to driver and rider feedback, redesigning, testing, and troubleshooting through various pilots around the globe," said Andrew Macdonald, SVP of Mobility and Business Operations.

The debut of this service comes at a time when gas prices are surging, leaving people with limited travel options all across the U.S.

"Our pooling product has long been a rider favorite, from the spontaneous singalongs to meeting new friends and other fun chance encounters," says Macdonald. We believe UberX Share, and the improvements we've made for drivers and riders, will make it better than ever."