Uber allows drivers to set their own destinations in Singapore

It’s a late-night scare story that’s all too familiar to Singaporean commuters: it’s almost midnight, you’re looking to hail a cab home, and sure enough, one with a green light shows up. But oh, horror of horrors – the sign reads “Tampines,” or “Jurong West,” or some other remote part of Singapore that’s on the opposite side of where you’re going.

The feature will only be available to drivers twice a day, resetting at midnight.

You look at the driver. The driver looks at you. Without a word being spoken, you both know what’s happening. The driver is heading home, and he’s only interested in picking you up if you live basically down the street from him.

It’s one of the many idiosyncrasies of taxi drivers that have led to the rising popularity of ride hailing apps. So it’s a bit of a surprise that Uber will now allow drivers to set their own destination and pick up riders along the way. To be fair, though, the feature will only be available to drivers twice a day, resetting at midnight.

The feature debuted in the Bay Area last November and it’s now being tested among a number of Uber drivers in Singapore. It will roll out to all drivers in the country in the coming weeks.

Using the app, a driver can indicate the destination he or she is driving to. When that happens, the app will only present bookings from riders who are traveling somewhere along that specific route. Drivers can use it when they’re, say, driving home at the end of the day or need to run an errand somewhere without forfeiting their rides.

Singapore general manager for Uber Warren Tseng has previously said that Singapore remains a priority market for the company and it will keep testing new products here.

Image credit: Uber.