For many, Uber is a way for car owners to make some extra money on the side. The company is testing a new feature to make that even easier for drivers.
Uber announced it is piloting a feature in the Bay Area that lets drivers input their destinations to be matched with passengers traveling the same direction. Twice a day, drivers can input a destination and the app locates passengers headed in the same general direction.
The most obvious use for this sort of feature would be while driving to and from home, but Uber suggested a few other scenarios, like while running errands.
The feature is available to virtually anyone driving with Uber. Drivers just select a saved destination or search for a new destination, and with a destination chosen, the app will automatically find potential riders headed in the same direction. Though it's only being tested in the Bay Area for now, Uber says it will come to other large markets in the near future.
It may sound similar to Uber's carpooling service UberPool -- and in some ways, it is -- but there are also key differences. UberPool matches multiple passengers on the same general route, whereas this feature matches a driver and passenger on the same route.
Almost exactly one year ago, Uber's biggest U.S. competitor, Lyft, released a near-identical feature called Driver Destination, which aimed to sign up new drivers. Lyft lets drivers use the feature three times a day, while Uber only allows two.
Like Lyft, Uber is pitching this feature as much to its current drivers as it is potential drivers. After all, it's going to be a while before Uber can replace everyone with a self-driving car.