The car-pool system links motorists with people seeking a lift, matching times and destinations. The intention is to make personal transport more flexible and efficient while reducing traffic congestion.
The Waze Rider app has already been tested on Google employees and those of Google’s neighbouring businesses, including Adobe and Walmart’s Global eCommerce division.
Waze comes two months after Lyft – owned by General Motors – expanded its business to include a car-pooling service in San Francisco.
Uber last year also tested its UberCommute service in China. It also has a car-pool system that helps people commute to San Francisco from southern centres including Silicon Valley.
Australia’s biggest car-pooling business is Coseats (www.coseats.com), founded by Torsten Herbst in 2011 as a free service, operates like a blackboard, where people go online to list their name and destination.
“I started it as a taxi-share from Melbourne airport but that didn’t really take off,” Mr Torsten said.
“So Coseats is used now mainly by backpackers and travelers who are looking for some company when travelling and reducing their travel costs.”
Coseats also earns income by organising people to shift rental cars and camper vans between towns and cities.
Though Coseats members offer money for a ride, in its San Francisco trial, people seeking a Waze ride will pay US54 cents a mile (about A46c/km) to the driver.
Waze has yet to announce its intention to charge for the service, though it is possible the charge would be levied on the driver.
Apps for car pooling are not new and even the concept goes back to the days of chalk and blackboards, promoted initially for commuting to work and then for students and their parents trying to find a cost and time-efficient way to get to class.
Free car-pooling apps available now include Carpool – School Edition.
By Neil Dowling
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