Waze tests carpooling option in Bay Area

Waze, the Google-owned traffic navigation app, said Monday more than 25,000 employees at select companies in the Bay Area will be able to test a carpooling option that allows them to hitch a ride with Waze drivers.

Employees can download a free app, Waze Rider, that lets them request a ride from other Waze users who share a similar commute.

[...] Waze drivers notify other app users if there are accidents or police monitoring traffic on the roads.

Waze tried a similar pilot program last year in Israel, where it took a 15 percent commission if riders paid drivers.

The difficulty of finding enough people to consistently fill a car, safety concerns and the awkwardness associated with an exchange of money have created barriers for decades, said Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center.

Connecting nearby riders and drivers and estimating wait times — as Uber and Lyft have done — make ride sharing a more reliable transportation option.

The Google employee said carpooling has sped up her commute to and from her home in lower Pacific Heights and Google’s Mountain View headquarters.