Uber today is adding a new feature that will solve a challenge almost every rider, at some point, has faced: the difficulty with picking up friends along the route to your destination. That’s because, until now, Uber has only allowed you to request a ride from point A to point B. That now changes with the introduction of an “add-a-stop” feature that allows you to add up to three total stops to your route.
Before, if you wanted to do something similar, you’d have to change your destination mid-trip to include the additional stop or stops, get everyone to meet in one place to catch the Uber, or even order another ride after getting dropped off at your first stop.
With the multi-stop feature, you can instead input your extra stops in advance of requesting your Uber.
To use the new option, you tap “where to?” and then the plus sign “+”. You’ll then enter in the addresses of all your stops, and request your ride. The app will remind you to keep stops to 3 minutes or less, as a courtesy to your driver. That’s a bit longer than the typical wait time, though. Uber typically charges a per-minute wait fee 2 minutes after a driver reaches your location.
Uber tells us the wait time fee will still apply to the first pick up. But if the rider spends more than 3 minutes at the other stops, the price could change from the upfront fare they were quoted before requesting their ride.
You will still be able to make changes to your stops mid-route, Uber also notes. You’ll be able to both add or remove stops in real-time while on the way, and the driver will get the directions updates automatically.
Drivers will also be able to see the full route with all the stops upon picking up the rider. At each stop, the driver will swipe in his or her app to acknowledge that they’ve arrived at the stop before the directions to the next stop are given.
This isn’t the first time Uber has made it easier to ride with friends on its service.
The company has long offered a way to split your Uber fare with other riders, but this assumed you were both jumping in the Uber at the same time. It’s also worth pointing out that Uber rival Lyft introduced adding extra stops in its app last year, which then gave it an advantage for group rides.
Uber’s new multi-stop feature is now live on both iOS and Android to users worldwide, if they have the most recent version of the Uber app. But the update hit international users first, then arrived in the U.S. and Canada. So if you don’t see the new feature yet, you should soon.