Google-owned traffic and navigation app Waze has expanded its Carpool service nationwide.
The service connects drivers and riders with similar destinations, so they can commute together, resulting in fewer cars on the road. Now, people in all 50 states can try Waze Carpool.
"Traffic is at an all-time high in the US, yet over 75 percent of commuters journey to work alone in a car," Waze CEO Noam Bardin said in a statement. "Waze is in a unique position to help facilitate Carpooling on a national level. By leveraging the Waze community and connecting the dots between how people are traveling and where they want to go, we can empower everyone to reduce the number of cars on the road now."
Waze first introduced its Carpool service in 2016 with a San Francisco pilot before expanding it to all of California last year.
The Waze Carpool app, available for Android and iOS, lets you find coworkers and other people who take the same routes as you, and select who you want to carpool with based on their profile, star rating, and mutual friends. You can also filter potential carpool matches based on gender and whether they work for the same company or go to the same school as you.
To encourage people to spread the word about this service, Waze is offering riders a $20 credit and drivers $20 cash for each referral, up to 10 referrals per person. Plus, for a limited time, new riders will pay just $2 for every ride for 21 days. Waze said it will cover the difference, so drivers will still make what they normally would.
Waze Carpool drivers can charge up to 54 cents per mile, and no rider will have to pay more than $15 for a ride, a Waze spokesperson told PCMag.
Meanwhile, Waze said it's already started partnering with cities, businesses, transit agencies, and civic organizations to encourage people to use this service. As part of that effort, Waze Carpool is now available at 50 Amazon Fulfillment Center sites, so Amazon employees can ride to work together.
For more information about Waze Carpool, head here.