Uber Pilots Its Shared Rides Service ‘Pool Chance’ in Africa

Uber is set to launch its new ‘Pool Chance’ service in Kenya, enabling riders heading in the same direction to share the cost on their journey.

Riders have a chance of getting discounted rides if the driver picks up other passengers; otherwise, they’ll have to pay the regular fees they’d pay for an individual ride.

UberPool negotiates a specific carpool rate for the rider regardless of who else gets into the vehicle.

The Pool Chance trip option is available on the budget service, Chap Chap in Nairobi; in the populous Nigerian city of Lagos and Ghana’s capital Accra, it will be accessible on the UberX category, according to Techcrunch.

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.

An Uber spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the rollout is part of a pilot that it plans to offer more broadly but is still waiting for the result of the smaller test.

The new service, being introduced in Africa, is similar to UberPool, launched in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014.

 Uber’s head of communications for East and West Africa, Lorraine Ondoru, told TechCrunch: “We use this approach when introducing something new and we want to ensure the marketplace remains healthy and balanced. We will share more details once this has been officially launched.”