Google-owned Waze is shutting Waze Carpool, its service designed to connect drivers and commuters, starting next month. The six-year old service is shutting down due to shifting commuting patterns as a result of the pandemic, the company says.
The service first launched in San Francisco in 2016 and since expanded to the rest of the United States, Brazil and Israel. The company launched a standalone carpool app in 2018.
“Driving behaviors on the roads have changed: while Waze was predominantly a commuting app pre-COVID, today the proportion of errands and travel drives have surpassed commutes,” a Waze spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email. “We want to continue to make a real-world impact by doubling down on helping cities address mobility problems such as congestion, safety, sustainability and cost. In order for us to achieve this we will be retiring the Waze Carpool service to focus the company’s efforts on better supporting drivers on the road today.”
Waze Carpool’s goal was to connect people to carpoolers on their route to help save …
