Disregarding all the talk about its business dealings with local rival Grab, Uber Singapore has launched a new carpooling option: Uber Commute. Which really is Uber’s response to Grab’s own social carpooling service GrabHitch, a feature released way back in 2015.
Uber Commute works the same way. The new carpooling option is different from the existing Uber Pool feature, in which the former is a “peer-to-peer product” that allows riders to seek out private car owners willing to share their daily commute with folks traveling in the same direction. Rides aren’t booked on-demand, and passengers will have to book in advance. Uber Commute, however, is only available on weekdays, and fares are not subjected to surge pricing.
So all in all, a highly similar function as GrabHitch. Uber’s stance on the release of its new option, however, is based on “unlocking Singapore’s potential of becoming a car-lite society”.
“We have seen the positive impact of ridesharing solutions like uberPOOL in Singapore,” Uber wrote in a press release.
“When more people are in fewer cars, the cost of transportation for commuters lessens; congestion reduces, and CO2 emissions lessen with an increased number of shared journeys, especially at peak times.”
Singapore users will be the first in Southeast Asia to have the new option in their app — and to entice folks to use it, riders enjoy an automatic discount of 30 percent off their Uber Commute rides.
However, nothing was mentioned about the chatter swirling within the tech industry over the past couple of weeks — Grab is apparently on the cusp of buying Uber’s business in some markets in Southeast Asia, and a deal may be signed very soon, according to people familiar with the matter.
