Have you ever seen the UberX Share option on Uber? It is one of the cheapest ways to get an Uber ride.
With UberX Share, up to 3 separate passengers heading in the same direction can share one Uber and get a discount. It can be more than 20% cheaper than an UberX!
The basics of UberX Share
For drivers, this new ride type presents both challenges and opportunities. Drivers need to know how UberX Share works and how you can take full advantage of it—or how to turn off Share requests altogether.
And there’s some bad news for drivers: Most cities bundle UberX with Share, so you can’t turn off Share requests without turning off UberX.
Read on to learn how UberX Share works, for both passengers and drivers.
Article Contents
UberX Share: Share your ride and get a discount
UberX Share is an Uber ride type that can pair you with another passenger heading in the same direction as you.
That means that your driver may stop to pick up another passenger during your ride. Or you might join a ride that already has another passenger in it.
The low cost of UberX share is the main perk: If you are paired with another passenger, you will get an additional 20% off your ride. You will also get an immediate upfront discount just for choosing UberX Share.
Not all rides will be matched with another passenger, so don’t be surprised if you end up taking the trip alone and miss out on the 20% discount.
Be aware that your driver may drop off the other passenger first, which will add extra time to your trip. The Uber app determines the ideal route for pickups and drop-offs—it’s not up to your driver.
Get a small upfront discount for choosing UberX Share, then get an additional 20% off if you’re paired with another rider during your trip
Rules: 1 seat per request, only 2 minutes wait time
UberX Share is for solo riders only, so you can’t bring a friend along. You will be paired with other solo riders, for a total maximum number of 3 co-riders at a time.
One downside is that you have less time to meet your driver. Your driver will only wait for 2 minutes at your pickup location before they can cancel the ride and collect a cancellation fee.
You can’t change your pickup or destination address after you are paired with a driver, so make sure you get it right the first time.
When does it make sense to use UberX Share?
UberX Share is a great option if you want to save money and you’re not in a big rush to get to your destination.
Uber says that Share is designed to make riders arrive no more than 8 minutes later than a comparable UberX ride, so make sure you have some extra time to spare.
More reading for Uber users
- What’s the difference between the Uber ride types?
- How much does Uber cost? How pricing works
- Uber Reserve: How to schedule rides
How UberX Share works for drivers
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For drivers, UberX Share presents new challenges and opportunities.
On UberX Share rides, drivers may pick up multiple passengers and drop them off at different destinations, all guided by the driver app.
All ride requests are labeled with the UberX Share ride type, so you will know ahead of time if the ride is going to be a shared ride.
When UberX Share first came out, you could turn off the requests in your Preferences. But now, most cities bundle X and Share requests together, so there is no way to opt out of shared rides unless you turn off regular X rides.
How does driver pay work for UberX Share?
Drivers are paid UberX rates for UberX Share rides. Currently there is no extra pay for doing multiple pickups and drop-offs on one shared ride.
Uber says that “Your fare for an UberX Share trip will be equal or greater to what you would earn for an equivalent UberX trip.”
If you’re in an upfront pricing market, you will receive the pay that you see in the upfront estimate. If you’re in a rate card market you will be paid mileage + time.
Ride bonuses like Surge and Boost apply to shared rides, and will be indicted on the ride request screen.
Some drivers complain that the pay for shared rides is too low. Check out the offer below that only pays 29 cents per mile and $10/hour. That’s bad!
Pay for shared rides can be quite low
How to opt out of UberX Share rides
On the home screen, tap the icon with 2 lines to open Preferences, select your vehicle, then tap on UberX Share to enable or disable rides.
But if UberX Share is bundled together with UberX, you’ll have to disable both ride types to stop receiving shared rides.
In some cities, UberX share is listed individually in your Preferences (example pic below), which allows you to easily toggle shared rides on or off.
Open Preferences in the driver app to toggle UberX Share on or off
But in other cities, UberX and UberX Share are bundled together. In that case, you can only turn off shared rides by also turning off UberX rides.
In some cities, you can only turn off X Share by turning off X. Not good!
Can’t turn off shared rides? What you can do
If UberX and UberX Share are bundled together in your city, you won’t be able to turn off shared rides without also turning off UberX rides.
To avoid shared rides you can simply decline shared ride requests— but that’s not a great option if you’re trying to level up your Uber Pro.
Another strategy: After you pick up the first customer on a shared ride, select “stop accepting fares” to prevent new requests from coming in. After you drop off customer, log back in and start taking rides again.
How to do a shared ride: The process
An UberX Share ride request looks similar to other ride requests and has similar upfront information. Your first step is to navigate to the first passenger and pick them up.
After you pick up the first rider, the app may notify you to pick up a second rider. Follow directions to navigate to the next rider.
The app will tell you who to drop off first. Often, the person you pick up first will not be dropped off first, so be prepared to explain that to passengers.
Sometimes the app won’t find a second rider and you’ll simply take the first passenger directly to their destination.
Rules that passengers have to follow on Share rides
For Share rides, you only have to wait 2 minutes at the the pickup location before you can cancel and collect the no-show fee. You have to wait 5–7 minutes on other ride types.
Uber only allows 2 co-riders at the same time, so each passenger pickup should only be 1 person. If you arrive at a Share pickup and you find 2 or more people, you can cancel.
Why some drivers don’t like UberX Share (And why they hated Uber Pool)
Veteran drivers will immediately recognize that UberX Share is a rebrand of Uber Pool, a shared ride service that was put on hold due to Covid-19.
So far, Share is very similar to Pool. And just like Pool, Share will end up being an unpopular service with drivers.
Here’s why drivers didn’t like Uber Pool, and why they won’t like UberX Share either.
More work for the same/similar pay
UberX Share doesn’t pay more than a regular UberX ride, but there will be more work, more complications, all for similar pay.
Passengers don’t understand how it works
Shared rides operate very differently from normal Uber rides, and many passengers ignore notices from Uber explaining how it works.
Many are surprised when the Uber app tells drivers to drop them off after the other ride, and get annoyed at the extra wait time.
Some passengers simply tap the button with the cheapest price without realizing that they selected a shared ride at all.
Unhappy passengers means lower ratings, higher chance of deactivation, lower tips, and more stress.
Passengers don’t always get along with each other
Two strangers who don’t know each other might not always get along. And when those two people are stuck together with you in the same car, things can get tense and awkward.
Passengers who want the cheapest ride are less likely to tip
The main selling point of shared rides is that they can be significantly cheaper than regular Uber rides. Passengers who are hunting for a cheap ride probably won’t offer a generous tip.
The upsides of shared rides for drivers
While there can be many downsides to shared rides, there are also upsides to consider.
Finish Quests and promotions faster: On shared rides, every pickup counts towards promotions. That means that you’ll be able to finish Quests faster.
Doing shared rides in areas that typically have short rides is the best way to quickly finish a Quest in the shortest amount of time with the fewest miles driven.
Less downtime between rides: Shared rides can lead to more back-to-back rides. If you run into a lot of downtime while you’re doing UberX, try and see if shared rides give you more consistent ride volume.
According to Uber, these are the benefits of shared rides
UberX Share vs Uber Pool: What’s the difference?
Is UberX Share just Uber Pool in disguise?
Drivers and riders who used Uber before 2020 may remember a ride type called Uber Pool that was very similar to UberX Share.
Uber Pool was a shared ride service that paired riders together in the same Uber, all for a discounted price.
UberX Share is essentially a rebrand for Uber Pool—there aren’t many changes for UberX Share.
One main difference with UberX Share vs Uber Pool is that Uber only allows solo riders to use the option. With Uber Pool, Uber allowed 2 groups of 2 riders, for a total of 4 people in one car.
UberX Share pricing is also different than Uber Pool. With Uber Pool, riders got a big discount even if they were never paired with another rider.
With UberX Share, you only get the 20% discount if you get paired with another rider and share the ride. You only get a small discount if you don’t end up sharing your ride.
Should drivers do UberX Share rides?
It’s always worth trying a new ride type. After you learn the ins and outs of shared rides, you can identify scenarios where it’s worth it and scenarios where it isn’t.
The main benefit of UberX Share is Quests, because shared rides can quickly help you complete a larger number of pickups.
More reading for Uber drivers
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