Google’s navigation app Waze opens up its first carpooling trials

Google-owned mapping service Waze has started a carpooling trial in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to Reuters.

The service, called RideWith, will charge a small fee for passengers to pay fellow drivers for a lift to or from work. Unsurprisingly, it’ll use Waze’s mapping app for navigation.

In theory, it should learn which routes people most frequently take to get to or from work and pair them up with other users who tend to favor the same routes.

It’s just a trial for now, with no suggestion of imminent launches in other countries, and drivers are blocked from offering more than two rides per day.

That means they can’t earn a salary from the service, unlike with car services like Uber.

➤ Google’s Waze to start carpooling pilot program in Israel [Reuters]

Read next: Built by you: Google-owned Waze’s biggest asset is its community