Uber plans to temporarily remove the ability to split fares sometime next month, according to a statement Uber gave to Mashable. The company is “in the process of reworking how riders split fares,” Uber told the publication. “We know this is a popular feature, so rest assured that we are planning to roll out a new, improved version in the coming months.” Uber didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge.
The company also reportedly sent an email to customers informing them of the change, though it seems the email was partially incorrect. “We are sorry to let you know that from March 21st, we are discontinuing the ‘Split fare’ feature, which allows you to share the price of a trip with other riders,” according to a screenshot of the email included in Mashable’s article. However, Uber told Mashable that the March 21st date was not right — instead, the feature will be removed sometime in April. And while the email does say that Uber is “continuously working to improve your Ride sharing experience in other new ways,” it does not appear to mention that Uber plans to roll out a new way to split fares in the future.
Uber first introduced the ability to split fares in 2013, and it’s useful if you want to share the cost of a ride. Lyft removed its own “Split Pay” feature in 2018, though it has since created a half-measure: as of 2020, you can use Venmo as payment and split the fare of a ride from the Venmo app.
wazup.