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Uber To Launch Carpool Service In Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A fan favorite for getting from Point A to Point B in Miami-Dade is about to get cheaper and help unclog the county's traffic congestion.

On Friday, Uber's Senior Vice President and Head of Global Operations Ryan Graves announced the launch of uberPOOL -- or basically carpooling using Uber.

Designed to help riders save money, uberPOOL pairs two or three passengers heading in the same direction and allows them to split the cost. That will end up saving them 25 to 50 percent of a normal solo ride.

"It means less congestion, fewer emissions, less time in traffic and more jobs," said Graves.

uberPOOL will also help the company's drivers by maximizing their time efficiency earning money on longer trips, without the downtime between passengers.

"uberPOOL will become an important supplement to Miami's transportation system. Launching uberPOOL in Miami is a step in the right direction toward fulfilling our vision for the future that looks a whole lot greener, cleaner, and more efficient thanks to fewer cars and more shared rides," said Graves in a statement.

"I think it's a way to be green and still use the service," said Meieli Sawyer, who avoids driving because of the traffic in South Florida and has thought about trying uberPOOL.

Kasra Moshkani, General Manager for Uber in South Florida, said carpooling using uberPOOL will have a positive impact on reducing traffic congestion.

According to the 2014 Urban Mobility Scorecard, Miami commuters cumulatively wasted nearly 200 million hours and more than 90 million gallons of gas as a result of congestion.

On average, this delay costs more than $1,000 per commuter. This congestion accounted for more than 1.6 billion lbs. of additional CO2 emitted.

Moshkani said their launch of uberPOOL in other major cities have already shown results.

In October of this year alone, uberPOOL helped save 400,000 miles of driving in Los Angeles, saved nearly 50,000 gallons of gas in San Francisco and avoided nearly 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions in Boston.

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