Uber New Zealand head of rider, Manuela Nicolae, said driving for Uber Commute was not the same as being an Uber driver-partner. The biggest difference is that drivers cannot earn a profit from the peer-to-peer service.
"One of the times people use their cars most is for their daily commute. But what if we could just help two people, heading from the same suburb, to the same business district, in the same car? For every two people who travel together, that's one less car on the road," Nicolae said in the company's most recent blog post.
Through its app, commuters and riders can book a carpool ride the night before, scheduling when they want to leave home, where they are travelling to and whether they want to ride or drive.
If there is someone to match with, Uber will pair the two. "If you're driving, it's a way to offset the cost of your commute while doing what you already do.
"If you're riding along, it means you don't need to worry about the cost or hassle of parking," she said.
But there's a catch - drivers cannot make a profit per se from carpooling. However, the Land Transport (Facilitated Cost-sharing Arrangement Maximum Reimbursement) Notice 2017 allows for drivers to recoup their costs on a per kilometre basis.
Uber says an Uber Commute trip will be approximately 65 per cent cheaper than an UberX.
Uber operates a similar business in Australia and other markets, UberPool, although with its driver-partners, that enables more than one rider going in similar directions to catch the same ride.
