Uber’s Rolling Out A Reservation System For Rides

Where Lyft goes, it seems Uber will follow (and vice versa).

Just about a month after the rival ride-sharing service announced it would allow riders to schedule their pick-ups in advance in some areas, Uber has decided to offer a similar service.

Launching worldwide, Scheduled Rides will let Uber users ask for a car ahead of time — 30 minutes is the minimum window, 30 days is the maximum. That is more expansive that Lyft’s offering, which limits users to asking for rides up to 24 hours in advance.

Apart from letting the extremely organized plan ahead, the service will also send along reminders — one 24 hours in advance (if applicable) and another 30 minutes ahead of time. When the driver has been deployed, the customer will get a notification and any information about surge pricing for the ride if it happens to apply.

The program will come out of the garage, so to speak, in Seattle, “followed by other top business travel cities,” according to a post on Uber’s blog. Those who have business profiles or have an account linked to their employer’s Uber for Business account will receive priority booking of scheduled trips.

The firm notes the move comes in response to frequent user demand.