Uber plans to map Toronto

Many a times, passengers have been found wandering on the street, not knowing where they could find a Uber vehicle, reports said.

Keeping this in mind, Uber started to figure out the best possible areas where passengers might need a ride, said Manik Gupta, Uber’s head of mapping products, in an interview from San Francisco.

Gupta was of the opinion that numerous GPS services as well as Google Maps failed to provide the data regarding the spot where passengers might need rides, adding that it might be several weeks before he could figure out the approximate cost of this endeavour with an estimated sixty-five Uber vehicles.

The mapping plan was first announced in July and Financial Times reported five hundred million dollars as the total investment of the company.

Edmonton was the first city in Ontario to undertake the mapping procedure, with Toronto being the second one, said reports.

Uber planned to pool the service, in which two passengers travelling in the same direction can share the cost.

But according to reports the drawback of this plan is that it would be frustrating for already-seated passenger in the vehicle as well as waste of time before another rider is found.

It is for this very reason that Uber planned to collect imagery of many potential locations in Toronto, reported Gupta and also added that images will not be published.

Uber planned to use a coloured bubble on the map to enable both the driver and the riders to find each other, said the report, adding that Uber had no plans to set up formal bus stops as their sign locations.

“In some cases, we will say to a rider: Can you walk a little way to make the pick-up better?” Gupta said.

“In some cases, we will route the driver in a different direction to come back to you.”, reports said quoting Gupta.

In a new upfront fare system,  the Uber drivers would let the riders know the estimated price of their ride based on supply and demand, enabling Uber to eliminate the words “surge pricing.”

But the words “prices are higher due to increased demand” would still be in effect, according to media reports.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj,Image: Uber Twitter page)