Scoop Launches Carpooling Rideshare In Seattle

Seattle residents have a new way to get to and from work now that Scoop has officially launched its carpooling service in the city.

According to GeekWire, Scoop is a mobile app that uses an algorithm to match co-workers or neighbors so they can carpool to and from work together. The algorithm takes into account people going in the same direction based on pre-scheduled pick-up times in the morning and evening, along with other factors like traffic and past feedback.

Scoop handles payment, mapping, contact info and more within the app. The average cost per ride is $5 to $6, with about 80 percent going to drivers. But if a company partners with Scoop to help their employees find rides, fees can be discounted to as little as $1 per ride.

Right now, Scoop is only open in Seattle to commuters going to and from the South Lake Union and downtown areas, but more locations will be added soon. Seattle is the second city to get Scoop; the first is the company’s hometown of San Francisco, where partners like Cisco, HP, Yahoo and more have helped the app facilitate about 650,000 carpool trips since 2015. The company expects to do 100,000 this month alone.

It is believed that Amazon is partnering with Scoop in Seattle, although the company wouldn’t confirm that. And while Uber and Lyft both launched their own carpooling services in Seattle last year, Co-Founder Jon Sadow said Scoop doesn’t consider them to be competitors since they operate in “different market segments.”

“We brought all the best features and functionality from Uber, Lyft, Airbnb — those who built great on-demand marketplaces — and extended those into what should be the real way a carpooling system works,” he said.

Scoop employs 30 people and raised a $5.1 million round from Signia Venture Partners, Index Ventures, BMW i Ventures and Workday Corporate Ventures in May 2016.