WSJ: Google Takes On Uber With New Ride-Share Service

(RTTNews) - Google is moving onto Uber Technologies Inc.'s turf with its own ride-sharing service in San Francisco that would help commuters inexpensively join carpools, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, GOOG), began a pilot program around its California headquarters in May that enables several thousand area workers at specific firms to use the Waze app to connect with fellow commuters. It plans to open the program to all San Francisco-area Waze users this fall, the person said, with hopes of expanding the service if successful. Waze, which Google acquired in 2013, offers real-time driving directions based on information from other drivers.

Unlike Uber and its crosstown San Francisco rival Lyft Inc., which each largely operate as on-demand taxi businesses, Waze wants to connect riders with drivers who are already headed in the same direction. The company has said it aims to make fares low enough to discourage drivers from operating as taxi drivers. Waze's current pilot charges riders at most 54 cents a mile—less than most Uber and Lyft rides—and, for now, Google doesn't take a fee.

Google and Uber were once allies—Google invested $258 million in Uber in 2013—but more recently have become rivals in some areas. Alphabet executive David Drummond said on Monday that he resigned from Uber's board because of rising competition between the pair. Uber, which has long used Google's mapping software for its ride-hailing service, recently began developing its own maps.