A new, D.C.-based ride-sharing startup called Split launched this week, jumping into the ride-share wars. The startup, based out of the 1776 tech incubator, offers an app-based hailing system similar to Uber or Lyft but with its own gimmicks designed to make it stand out. It also counts Transdev, the company behind Super Shuttle and other transportation services hit hard by the ride-sharing startups that have risen in the last few years.
Split works much like a car-pool. Drivers will pick up customers who are all going the same way, taking them to their destination one by one. It might be a little slower than a direct ride, but the relatively low cost reflects that. Right now, rides cost between $2 and $8.
"There's no surge pricing, and the trip is a lot more efficient," said Dan Winston, Split's director of strategy. "It's just $2 per ride and $1 per mile."
The eventual plan is to cover the entire District, but for now, Split is driving around the area in the map below and has about 20 drivers working for them.
There really is a lot of competition in the ride-share market of D.C. On top of Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and Green Tomato Cars, there's the commuter sharing startup Bridj and Getaround, a shared-car rental platform newly launched in D.C. this week. If Split is going to stand out, it may take more than just pricing to do it. Winston pointed to the environmental improvements of car-pooling as applied to ride-sharing, and said the network of stops the company is using to get people around is more efficient and safer than the systems most are used to. There's also little things like seeing the cost of the trip before booking instead of after the ride is over, a frequent complaint about Uber and Lyft.
But even the big ride-share companies are experimenting with car-pooling systems, so can Split really pull away from the pack? Clearly, Split and Transdev think so, but any more ride-sharing options and people in D.C. may stop walking entirely.
