An article on Forbes in July 2015 dealt with the possibility of Google’s Waze app competing in the ride sharing market. Barely a year after, this prediction became a reality. The Waze Carpool service which was launched in Israel in 2016 is now available in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What is Waze

Simply put, Waze is a navigation app. The company’s official website describes Waze as “an app that contributes to common good on the roads.” The app works by connecting drivers to other drivers thereby creating different local communities of drivers who help improve the quality of everyone’s driving. With Waze, drivers can get to their destinations faster with the help provided by other Wazers. Sounds like a huge responsibility right? However, this app has signed up over 50 million drivers and was purchased by Google in 2013 who paid a whopping $1.15 billion for the Israeli based startup.

Now, Google is putting the app to better use by launching a car pool service called Waze Carpool. Leveraging on the number of drivers already signed up to the app, Google will now provide an avenue through the carpool service that allows drivers pick up passengers on their way to work and on their way back.

Waze Carpool began as a pilot program in San Francisco but is now open to everybody in the Bay Area.

Who Can Use?

During the pilot stage, The Verge reported that the service was only open to a selected group of employers and their employees in the Bay Area. Currently, by providing Waze with your general schedule and your home and work addresses, you can be part of the carpool as a driver. (Note – if you are asking- why can’t I schedule a ride with uber – download Kommen a complement to the uber app) Waze Carpool drivers are just ordinary people that offer rides to people going in the same direction. With the use of the Waze navigation app, drivers can render carpool service to users. Though UberPOOL is a similar service, Waze Carpool is being pitched as a lower cost option.

How It Works

For Drivers


Live routing based on community driven, real-time traffic & road info
Community reported alerts including accidents, hazards, police traps, road closures, and more
Turn-by-turn voice guided navigation
Live maps, consistently edited and updated by Waze community map editors
Automatic rerouting as conditions change on the road
Send your ETA & real-time drive to update those you’re meeting
Learns your frequent destinations, commuting hours, and preferred routes
Find the cheapest gas station on your route
Earn points as you contribute road info and climb the ranks in your community


For Riders


Ask for a ride in advance and be notified when a Wazer along your route has offered to pick you up.
You just help cover the cost of gas in exchange for a ride!
Your driver is an everyday Wazer with a similar commute to yours, who would be taking the trip anyway. Pairing up means one less car on the road!


Pricing

The goal of the Carpool service is not for drivers to earn money but rather allows them share the costs incurred while driving with the riders they pick up. Riders and drivers share the cost of gas for the trip. Ride payment is set in advance at a rate suggested by Waze, no greater than the federal mileage rate of $0.54 per mile, and money is transferred from riders to drivers automatically. Riders are charged a maximum rate of 54 cents per mile while drivers are reimbursed for the mileage driven during their carpooled rides

Driver Requirements

Drivers aren’t required to pass any sort of background check or even provide a photo ID, according to the Verge. Drivers are merely regular people that use the Waze App, who’ve offered to give people a ride during their back and forth trip to work.


Waze Carpool drivers must be 21 years and above
Provide Waze with your general schedule
Provide your home and work addresses


Rider Requirements


Get the Waze Rider app for free on Android or iOS.
Schedule a ride in advance and Waze Rider will look for the closest Wazer already planning a drive on your route making it easy to carpool with neighbors and colleagues you know or haven’t met yet.
You must be 18 years or older to be a rider with Waze Carpool.
Waze Carpool is only available for two rides a day, one to work and one home.


What We ThinkThe possibilities for the Carpool service are endless as we see room for growth and evolution. We see this service being rolled into more cities, thereby increasing the number of Waze Carpool users.

About the team

Founded in 2016 by Malik Akande, a former Accenture employee, the Kommen team is dedicated to booking uber taxi vehicles for later.

Written by Ola John & Edited by Nkiru Enemchukwu.