MOUNTAIN VIEW — Google’s Waze traffic-and-navigation app has launched a pilot carpooling project to help cut Silicon Valley’s horrendous commutes. And carpooling, according to a prominent business group, is the only way to deal with the region’s traffic woes anytime soon.
“There is no other solution for near-term commute relief,” said Michael Cunningham, senior vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council. “Getting more people into fewer cars is about the only thing you can do on a large scale fairly quickly.”
Late last month, the Bay Area Council released poll results indicating that 70 percent of drivers commuted solo, that 83 percent of respondents thought the region’s traffic would never get better and that a third said they wanted to leave the region because of traffic and high housing costs.
Waze’s program will pair a driver with a passenger based on where they live and work. To start, it’s open to companies Waze has invited, but the firm is taking applications from other employers.
Google bought Waze in 2013 for nearly $1 billion. The app produces maps that show traffic and delays, and offers alternative routes based on data from users who have the app open while driving.
Waze is going up against ride-booking apps Uber, which launched “UberPool” in August 2014, and Lyft, which launched Lyft Carpool in March. Lyft Carpool tempts drivers with earnings of up to $400 a month. Riders pay $4 to $10 per trip. UberPool allows Uber users to cut their trip cost in half by enabling the Uber driver to pick up another passenger traveling the same route.
In Waze’s carpooling project, a passenger’s contribution to the cost of gas is made automatically to the driver, who is not otherwise paid.
Cunningham said the popularity of the “casual carpool” system between the East Bay and San Francisco, plus the widespread use of ride-booking services, show the public generally accepts riding with strangers.
But two obstacles remain for effective carpooling, he said. Gaps remain between stretches of carpool lanes, for example along parts of Highway 101 in San Mateo County and along Interstate 880 in Oakland, Cunningham noted. Also problematic are the many solo drivers using carpool lanes who slow traffic and reduce the incentive to carpool, he said.
Contact Ethan Baron at 408-920-5011 or ebaron@bayareanewsgroup.com or follow him at Twitter.com/ethanbaron.
