Uber Express Pool: cheaper rides, as long as you don't mind walking

Uber just discovered a new activity to integrate into its app: walking.

Yes, using your feet is an essential ingredient in Uber Express Pool, a new option users in select cities will begin seeing in the Uber app. Similar to  standard Pool, Express Pool combines up to three individual rides into one, but instead of forcing the car to zig-zag across blocks to make three separate pickups, the app asks riders to walk 1-2 blocks so the car can stay on a central, straight path.

If this sounds eerily like the bus, you're onto something, right down to the cheaper fees. Uber says the rates for Express Pool will be up to 50 percent less than those for standard Pool, and 70 percent cheaper than its main service, UberX. So if an X ride costs, say, $15, Pool would be about $9, and Express Pool would be $4.50. Read more...