The Waze of the Future for Your Commute

Uber is the most famous ride sharing app on the market today with Lyft a distant, but important second. These two companies offer ride sharing services that make possible for someone to hail a ride around the clock and give the drivers a chance to earn a great living by driving their own personal vehicles and getting paid to do so. These two companies offer the right way for you to enjoy the ride and get where you need to go, but there may be a ripple in the market, especially during certain times of day.

Around large cities many of us depend upon public transportation to get where we need to go. This means we have to be aware of the bus or subway schedule and plan the time that it takes to walk to the stop nearest our homes. So many have gotten used to this they almost don’t notice the drain on their day, but the trade-off is high cab fares or the easy and economical public transportation system, especially for those who don’t want to drive in the city and won’t own a car where they live and work.

There is a new service that could make it easier than ever to have a ride to and from work and make the time spent going to the bus or subway stop and waiting for the next ride to come by obsolete. This new program is called Waze and it has been launched in the San Francisco area. This new program actually comes from Google as the service will use the Google navigation app to find the best route wherever the destination is. Originally this program was offered to a limited number of people, as a way to commute, but it will continue to expand.

For the time being, Waze isn’t trying to generate any revenue for itself. Instead, Waze drivers are set up with a flat rate of 54 cents per mile which is meant to reimburse these drivers for the gasoline and maintenance of their vehicles. Those who ride in a Waze vehicle will have to pay this fee, but it’s a fee that’s a lot less expensive than a taxi, Uber or the public transportation system. This system would easily undercut Uber which was supposed to be a partner of Google in the industry, but with tensions high between the two it seems this program will sever those ties for good.

The Waze system will be limited though. The initial limitations will be that a ride can only use the system twice a day and that’s expected mostly be at peak driving times. In other words, Waze is meant to be a way to get to and from work each day to replace the commute you normally make. If you already use public transportation, this will save you a lot of time and it can be less expensive than what you pay for now. For others who would rather save the miles on their car for the weekend, the Waze system will make for a way to do just that.