American ride-sharing firm, Uber is reportedly testing its new service called, Pool Chance, in Africa which will enable riders heading in the same direction to share the cost on their journey.
The service is being introduced in Africa for the first time and is like UberPool, which was launched in San Francisco Bay Area in 2014 and later in many cities globally. Apparently, Uber aims at offering low-cost services to Ghana and Nigeria.
However, the low-cost popular service remains on hold in many regions, including the U.S. and Canada owing to the COVID-19 guidelines. Still, it seems that Uber is eventually bringing it back in some of the markets and introducing it where it was not available before.
As per credible sources, an Uber spokesperson has confirmed the roll out is part of a pilot (beta version) that it plans to offer more broadly but is still waiting for the result of the smaller test.
According to Uber, the two products are of the same concept but are unidentical. However, it did not disclose any further details.
As described in Uber driver's forum, the difference is that with Poll Chance, riders get a chance of getting discounted rides if the driver picks up other riders. Otherwise, the rider has to pay the regular price of an individual ride.
In Nairobi, the Pool Chance trip option is available on the cheap service Chap Chap; in Lagos, Nigeria's metropolis, and Accra, Ghana's capital, it will be offered in the UberX category.
In October of last year, after launching Pool Chance in Kyiv, Ukraine, Uber introduced it in Auckland, New Zealand in April. They relaunched the less expensive ride-share service in Australia's Sydney and Perth cities and then launched Pool Chance in Adelaide.
According to Uber's app, Pool Chance will reduce the cost of rides by up to 30%, making Uber's journeys even more affordable and accessible to users.
Source Credit - https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/18/uber-tests-shared-rides-in-africa-as-uberpool-stays-shut-in-us-canada/