Following succesful tests in Israel and the San Francisco Bay Area last year, Waze is planning an expansion of its carpooling service to several US cities and Latin America. Waze Rider has some notable differences and downsides from Uber and Lyft, but is cheaper as a result.
As rumored last month, Google’s Uber and Lyft competitor is now live in San Francisco (via Wall Street Journal) as a pilot program. Waze Rider is more of a carpooling service and comes with numerous restrictions for drivers. For passengers, this results in significantly cheaper costs when compared to full ride sharing services.
Last July, Google-owned Waze began a small, private beta test of a ride-sharing service in its native Israel. Launched under the name RideWith by Wave, the service has since been renamed Waze Rider and now has a dedicated app in the Play Store.