Uber rolling out pre-scheduled rides to Boston customers
Uber has good news for users who have struggled to hail a ride for an early morning flight or before an important appointment—the company has started offering the ability to schedule rides in advance.
After launching the program as a pilot in Seattle earlier this summer, Uber is bringing the ride scheduling feature to some Boston customers. As of Wednesday, it’s available to those with Uber business accounts, but the company said it plans to roll out the feature to riders with personal accounts as well within the next few weeks.
“This is the top-requested feature from our riders, especially for times like early morning trips to the airport,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement to Boston.com. “While we pride ourselves on providing on-demand rides, we understand that when you have to be somewhere at a specific times, it’s nice to have the assurance a ride will be available when you need it.”
Whether riders are looking to get a car in 15 minutes or 30 days, the service allows customers to select a specific pickup time and location and see a fare estimate. The app will then send the rider a reminder both 24 hours and 30 minutes before the scheduled trip, as well as a notification once a driver has confirmed the ride and is on the way.
The feature allows cancellations in advance, and notifies riders of surge pricing once a driver is on the way.
The new feature hits Boston just after Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill that will impose some regulations and fees on ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft throughout the state. While the bill included a more rigorous background check, a proposed five-year ban that would prevented drivers from picking riders up at Logan Airport was taken out of it, and there’s a chance the companies could make a deal with Logan officials to allow them to do so.
Still, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has expressed his frustration with the bill, as it strips municipalities of the power to impose additional regulations on the services. Walsh told Boston.com that he’s going to “see how [the new law] works” before taking action, but may approach the legislature to ask for more local control over ride-hailing companies within the city.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com