UberPool: Uber adds new option to allowing people to share cars with strangers to save money

The feature, which has already been available in the US, gives people 25 per cent off if they use it — whether or not they pick someone up

Uber's rapid growth has led to a multitude of teething problems. File photo

Uber has added a lift-sharing feature to its app in London, allowing people to share their taxi with a stranger in return for a reduced fair.

Users will be given 25 per cent off their journey if they say they will let up to two other passengers share their car. Drivers will then receive a message telling them that they’ll be picking up more than one fare, and can plan their route accordingly.

London is the second European country to get the feature, after Paris. It was first launched in San Francisco and now most people who use the app do so with the feature.

Passengers will save 25 per cent compared to the standard uberX fare. Each pick-up is restricted to a maximum of two people, with no more than three passengers in a car at any one time.

The introduction of the scheme comes while Transport for London (TfL) is holding a consultation on a series of measures that would affect Uber.

The proposals - which TfL say could "improve and inform" the regulations that govern the capital's private-hire trade - include enforcing an interval of at least five minutes between a booking and the start of a journey to allow drivers to plan an appropriate route.

London mayor Boris Johnson has blamed Uber for increasing traffic levels in the city.

The number of private-hire driver licences in London has risen from 65,000 in March 2013 to 92,000 earlier this month, according to TfL figures.

Uber's UK general manager Jo Bertram claimed uberPOOL will reduce congestion on the capital's roads.

She said: "UberPOOL makes it easy and affordable for people going in the same direction at the same time to share the trip.

"That means cheaper rides for passengers, less time between trips for drivers and fewer cars on the city's streets over time.

"By getting more bums on previously empty seats, this new service will help cut congestion and pollution in London."

The service will initially only be available for journeys starting in central London or Heathrow Airport.

Uber currently operates in more than a dozen UK cities.

Additional reporting by Press Association