Photo courtesy TechCrunch
It’s always a challenge to pick a place to drop your pin on ridesharing apps like Uber. Choose the wrong spot, and you’ve landed both the driver and yourself in a melee of honking horns, traffic jams and aggravated pedestrians. But, never fear, the industry changing app has another trick up its sleeve. The company has begun testing “Suggested Pickup Locations” in San Francisco. While dragging the pickup pin, the feature explains that passengers can “save time at these locations”, and shows places nearby where it would quicker for the driver to pick them up. Users can drop their pin on these green dots, see the address and walk there to shorten their wait time.
Lyft, an Uber competitor, has a similar feature limited to its LyftLine carpool service. On this app, designated pickup points are deemed HotSpots, and users who congregate at these locations receive modest discounts on their ride. For both companies, the move is a step in building a better climate for ridesharing. The drivers will be able to reach their fares more quickly, saving themselves gas and the passengers time. There is also a high chance that the awkward waiting on a crowded street for the right driver will be effectively eliminated.
