Google to Launch Rideshare in Bay Area

Since May, Google has been running a closed pilot in San Francisco for a rideshare service. It would take the form of a new feature in traffic app Waze, which Google purchased in 2013.

The program is oriented toward carpooling rather than chauffeuring.

This new service would be different from Uber and Lyft in that it would only try to connect people who are already going in the same direction, offering rates low enough to discourage drivers from operating like taxis.

Also, drivers would not be employed or even vetted by Google. As Ars Technia writes:

Those two issues—employment status and vetting of the drivers—have proved problematic for Uber and will likely cause legal and regulatory problems for Waze and Google as well.