Unless you have some kind of prearrangement set with co-workers, friends, or neighbors, entering into a carpool using apps Uber or Lyft can be a bit daunting as you never know who your other passengers are. However Waze has announced some changes to its carpool program where users can now choose who they want to carpool with.According to Waze, “You can see drivers and riders going your way, and choose the people you want to carpool with based on detailed profiles, star ratings, and connections like same workplace and mutual friends—along with price and distance off route. Your best matches (closest to your route) will appear at the top.”
Users will be able to customize their choices through a series of filters, where you can opt to carpool with people who work at the same place or picking someone of the same gender if that’s what you prefer. Ideally this should create a more relaxed carpool environment, and who knows, it could even help users make friends by carpooling with people they might have something in common with.
Waze also claims on its blog that this is just the start as there are plans to release more customization options soon. That being said, Waze’s carpool program is still quite limited in its availability where it is only available in California, Texas, and Israel.