Above is applicable only if you use UberPool. It's a great way to save money.
To be clear, I'm not talking about someone joining your UberPool ride. I'm cool with that, I chose Pool after all. I'm talking about how now, Uber will assign your current driver to his next rider before your ride has ended. As in, he will drop you off and he will already have been assigned the next rider to pick up.
I like the optimization, I don't like the fact that then the next rider will start calling the driver asking where he is/why he's going this direction/why he's taking so long etc.
The UI does show you if the driver is finishing a ride near you, but it doesn't tell you to meet him at their dropoff point. It also tries to recommend known "visible" pickup locations along the street where you're calling from, but you can always specify your own location.
Do either of these things sound like what you're thinking of...?
Ever consider what that means on the opposite end? Let's say you're an inpatient person (not a rarity in Manhattan). What happens when you call your Uber driver? Shockingly, he must now answer a call with another rider in the car. Effectively: making the ride less safe, making the ride less personal, cutting off any conversation, cutting off last minute "drop off" instructions like "under this red sign on the left" and generally degrading the entire experience.
And yes it is currently a recommended pickup spot for UberX. Thus why I said "Recommended pickup locations." Do you think it will stay that way? Given all the aforementioned stressors on Uber's monetization strategy, I highly, highly doubt it.
> Recommended pickup locations -> No longer door to door?
is not currently true for uberX. If you're inferring that uber is headed that way, well, maybe. But it's not so presently.
Then, when I was approaching my destination, some other people on the sidewalk were looking at their phone, and signaled to the driver. The driver pulled over next to them, I got out, the other people looked slightly confused someone was getting out of their Uber, and they got in.
That's barely different from the usual experience where the driver is jabbering away in Kreyol or Punjabi on his headset while the customer is in the back seat trying to tune it out.