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Why Uber Express Pool Sucks

By stevebeans 4 Comments | Last Updated March 28, 2018

express pool uber

Whether you’re an Uber driver or rider, you’re probably now getting around to hearing the term Express Pool. Here in the Boston market, it’s been out for a few months, so I’ve had quite a bit of experience with it and hopefully will be able to explain what it is, why it may be good, and why it may suck.

What is Express Pool?

How Express Pool worksUber Express Pool is a new option added to give riders an even cheaper option when using the rideshare. It is significantly cheaper than UberX and even about 50% cheaper than Uber Pool in some situations. This is due to the convenience factor of the driver sticking to their route and picking people up along the side of busy roads which prevents him or her from veering off from the final destination.

It is similar to that large vehicle we see in every city and town that drives along a specific route and has specific stops at specific times. What’s it called again? Oh, right, a bus. The only difference is that Express Pool passengers aren’t forced to wait at the bus stop with other people as they’re given their own randomly selected location to wait.

If you do not have Express Pool in your area yet, just wait. I have no doubt that this is going to be the first option for self-driving cars as it will allow the vehicle to remain on familiar roads and not do stuff like hit people crossing the street.

Why is Express Pool so cheap? 

By now you know what an Uber Pool is, and if not, it is when up to 2 passengers share a ride with other strangers so long as the strangers are going the same route. The problem with regular pool is that drivers often have to go out of their way to pick up additional passengers which adds to the cost of the ride for the original passengers. However, Uber has “up front pricing” which means the passenger is going to get charged what they were quoted at regardless of what happens along the ride and Uber loses even more money per ride.

With Express Pool, passengers are told to walk to a designated pickup spot where Uber drivers can swing by and grab them which prevents the driver from going way out of the way and wasting miles that Uber is forced to pay for. The savings get passed on to the passenger and you then have Uber Bus.

What is the problem with it for a rider?

Many passengers don’t like the pool feature at all but don’t quite understand it and select it because it’s the cheapest option. When they realize there are other passengers, that is typically the last time they either use Uber or use Pool. Let’s assume this section is not for them and this is for people who accept what Pool is and have no problem using it.

The biggest downside of Express Pool for them is simply the walking to a specific location. This is because the weather could be unfavorable and the ride not always on time which causes the rider to wait longer than expected in poor weather. More times than you can imagine, a rider is told to walk to a specific location but the driver gets there first and ends up leaving because the passenger is not there yet. This happens more often than not in busier cities when the app tells the passenger to go to some busy intersection and the driver simply can’t sit there and wait for 2+ minutes.

That’s not a guarantee, and will likely change over time as Uber finds more ideal waiting locations for passengers, but right now that is probably the biggest complaint Express Pool passengers have.

What is the problem with it for a driver?

Express Pool Busy Intersection
Just pick up the passenger at this intersection, please!

When Uber first announced this feature to drivers, they did it with a sense of excitement that pool rides are going to be easier on the driver now that they won’t need to navigate side streets to pick up passengers. That sounds good in theory, but in practice, it’s a nightmare.

If you’re driving in a fairly busy area, chances are high that the app will send the rider to some main street which is actually harder to do a pickup on than a side street. This is because cars are almost always parked on the side of the road, so you are forced to either park in a bus stop or double park with your hazards on waiting for a passenger to pop out between some cars and hop in.

As I learned last week, stopping like this is both dangerous and illegal. A police officer was standing near an event that recently let out and he was pulling over people who double parked to pick up passengers, even if that stop was for no more than 5 seconds (like mine). He said that is obstruction of traffic and I could be held at fault if another driver rear-ended me or a bike crashed into me. Fortunately, he was giving out warnings to drivers and my $10 ride didn’t turn into a $100 ticket, but I did gain important information that it’s not worth obstructing traffic to pick someone up.

Uber will not reimburse you for any traffic violations, and if you get too many, they can actually remove you from their program. Needless to say, if you cannot safely pull over to pick up a passenger, just keep driving and cancel the trip.

Are there any other issues with Express Pool?

Whether drivers like to admit it or not, they pride themselves on their rating, and that can cause them to do things like violate traffic laws for the ease of the passenger. This is because they fear getting the dreaded 1-star rating which can sink a decent rating pretty low depending on how many rides are under your belt. Passengers know this and will sometimes use it to their advantage when it comes to Express Pool. Quite often they will call the driver and pretend the app messed up their pickup location and they’re actually at soandso spot.

In addition, when dropping them off, Uber typically drops them off a block or two away from their destination, and they will ask the driver to drop them off at their door. This puts the driver in an awkward situation because the entire point of Express Pool is to avoid doing just that, so the driver will then need to tell the passenger he won’t drive an additional block over and drop the passenger off at their door.

While Uber does have a feature where you can dispute a rating, the problem with the app is it doesn’t tell you which passenger rated you a certain way, so it makes it extremely difficult (if not impossible) for a driver to dispute a rating that they aren’t even 100% sure exists. A driver could notice their rating drop at the end of the night and just assume it was a passenger who seemed angry. They can contact Uber and try to dispute it, but little do they realize, it may have been a ride earlier in the night who simply rated 1-star to try and get a free ride (that happens).

 

What needs to change?

Here are a few suggestions that Uber needs to make in order to keep drivers from just ignoring all Pool requests for fear of getting an Express Pool

  1. Communicate with the passenger better
    Just like they need to do regarding car seats and unaccompanied minors, Uber needs to remind passengers to try to get on a specific side of the road (depending on the likely direction of the driver) and look for a safe space where a driver can pull over.
  2. Let drivers know when a passenger gives a rating under 3 stars for Express Pool 
    Showing the driver specific ratings per passenger is not an ideal solution because riders do not want to be scared into giving 5-star ratings. Having a driver know where you live and how you rated them is not really a comforting feeling. Even though odds are strongly against a driver actually doing something, losing anonymity of a rating system alters the accuracy of the system. Express Pool typically doesn’t give an address of the rider and because of the confusing nature of the system, riders blame drivers more for screwups for these difficult pickups.
  3. Do not ping a driver until the passenger is at the recommended location
    While it may bother a rider to know drivers will not even be notified until they’re standing outside waiting, it will bother them more when a driver gets there, waits 2 minutes, and drives off collecting a cancellation fee because the rider had a 5-minute walk to the stop.
  4. Work with areas on creating Uber pickup zones.
    Cities really need to work with Uber and Lyft on creating rideshare specific zones. They have areas that taxi cabs can pull over and wait, or a bus can pull over and pick people up, but let rideshare drivers flap in the breeze. Ridesharing is the future and wasting tons of sidewalk space so cab drivers can pull over and wait for rides that are not going to happen is silly. Uber/Lyft need to work with major cities on fixing this problem sooner rather than later.

Drivers can protest Uber Pools all they want, but with so many drivers on the road, someone else is guaranteed to pick up a Pool request when they get it. This means Pool and Express Pool are not going away anytime soon and the company needs to find a good solution to have a peaceful coexistence with all types of rides.

Like this? Read more of my guides on driving for Uber here

Filed Under: Express Pool, Opinion Tagged With: rideshare, uber

Uber Express Pool Launching In More Cities – And Drivers Hate It

By stevebeans Leave a Comment | Last Updated March 7, 2018

If you’re a rider or driver for Uber, you’re probably familiar with Uber Pool. It’s the thing everyone loves to hate and well still loves to hate. It’s the feature that lets you sit in a car with a few strangers in uncomfortable silence for 15 minutes until you reach your destination.

Uber came up with this idea as a way to give riders an even cheaper option than UberX, but in doing so, they’ve been burning through money trying to subsidize the lost revenue. Uber burning through money is not a new phrase, but it’s weird that they would spend millions a week to get riders to use their service that nobody likes. Well, nobody likes the service, but people do love the price.

Uber wondered how they can make an already unpleasant situation worse, so they unleashed Uber Express Pool in a few cities under a trial run. This feature is very similar to Uber Pool where you are quite possibly going to share your ride with a complete stranger (or three), but they give you the added bonus of making you walk a block or two before you can do it! I think they’re trying to see just how uncomfortable they can make it for everyone before people just start going back to UberX.

I live and drive in the Boston region, so I’ve had quite a bit of experience with Express Pool compared to many Uber drivers and riders around the country, and I will say the price is significantly cheaper. I’ve seen up to 50% off the already discounted Uber Pool price, but as a rider living in cold New England, walking a few blocks in freezing temperatures didn’t seem worth the few dollars I’d save. It’s been so cold this winter that I’ve often had people request Uber just to give them a ride 1/3rd of a mile, so needless to say, Express Pool doesn’t exactly blow up my app – yet.

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Here are a few FAQ’s I thought of about my experience with Express Pool:

  • What is their logic behind Express Pool? It’s to speed up pickups and dropoffs and have drivers take the most direct route possible. Like a bus. A bus that can only seat 4-6 passengers and you’re all so close to each other than you can tell what the person sitting next to you had for lunch. Also great for spreading the flu!
  • Is it easier for the driver? Yes and no. When done properly, the Express Pool is decent for staying on main roads and not driving all around to pick someone up. However, if you use Waze as your GPS, you’re probably driving through someone’s living room to get to your next stop.
  • Does it pay less? Despite charging the rider a lot less for this ride, I have seen no difference in the amount they pay you for a normal Uber Pool ride (which is typically less than UberX). I don’t know if this will change in the future, but for a company hemorrhaging money, this can’t be good for their bottom line.
  • Why are they doing it? Simple –  to beat out Lyft. Despite what passengers may say, the rideshare app with the lowest price wins almost 99% of the time. I’ve had passengers say that they prefer Lyft over Uber or vice versa, but the reality is, that only matters when everything else is equal. Those people who claim to hate Uber will be hopping on an Express Pool if it charges them 50% less than Lyft.
  • Won’t they run out of money? I’m pretty sure Uber is out of money and living off borrowed cash, so I guess losing a little more is no big deal to them?
  • What is the real reason they can afford to do this? Right now, they can’t. However, Uber is hedging their bets that driverless cars are coming sooner than later and they will almost certainly be launched on Express Pool first. This is because the routes are more direct so the driverless car won’t have to take tons of backgrounds to pick people up. Once these cars are in play, Express Pool will begin to give them a profit as a large majority of the typical fare goes to the driver. Cut out the driver – increase the profits. Stick to main roads – increase confidence from passengers riding in driverless cars.

So, if you’re a driver out there. Don’t worry, Express Pool is likely here to stay! (notice the sarcasm).  If you’re a rider, well you now have yet a cheaper option to get around the city, assuming you’re willing to walk for it.

 

Filed Under: Express Pool, Uber, Uber Stories Tagged With: uber

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