Uber starts carpooling service UberCommute in China to push into the country

Uber is growing like a weed in China, spending millions of dollars to push into the country. And it's just getting started.

优步花费重金在中国推进，现在就像野草一样生长。而这仅仅是个开始。

The San Francisco-based ride-hailing service said it was starting a new carpooling service, beginning in Chengdu, China, on Wednesday morning. The service, called UberCommute, gives Chinese car owners who drive long distances — most likely drivers heading to and from work — the option of picking up passengers going in the same direction. The drivers and riders share the cost of the trip, which means the drivers end up saving money on a journey they would have already made by themselves.

这个总部在旧金山的叫车服务公司表示，周三上午它已在中国成都开始了新的拼车服务。该服务名为“优步同行”(UberCommute)，让车程较远的车主——最有可能是驾车上下班的人——可以搭载前往同一方向的乘客。司机和乘客将分摊费用，这意味着司机能在原本要独力承担的路费中省钱。

“When people can push a button and get a ride in minutes, they are less likely to drive themselves,” Uber said in a blog post. “Instead of 30 people using their own cars, you have one car serving them all.”

“如果人们按下一个按钮，就可以在几分钟内搭到车，他们可能就不再自己开车了，”优步在一篇博客文章中说。 “不再需要让30人分别开自己的车，现在用一辆车就能为他们所有人服务。”

The new service, which Uber plans to introduce globally over time, shows how the company is focused on gaining mainstream popularity in China, the world's largest Internet market. Uber, which has raised about $7 billion in funding, has earmarked more than $1 billion for growth in Asia.

优步计划逐步在全球推广这项新服务。这显示出，该公司多么专注于在中国赢得主流市场的欢迎——中国是全球最大的互联网市场。优步已经融资约70亿美元，该公司划拨了超过10亿美元开拓亚洲市场。

China is an obvious place for Uber to offer the new service. The world's most populous country is known for gridlocked traffic and crowded mass-transit systems.

优步在中国提供服务是自然而然的选择。在这个世界上人口最多的国家，拥堵严重的道路和拥挤的公共交通系统是出了名。

Uber may also be looking to the new service to ratchet up the competition with a local Chinese rival. Didi Kuaidi, China's dominant ride-hailing start-up, also recently began offering a carpooling service aimed at commuters.

优步可能也希望通过这项新服务，在一家中国本土对手面前，提升竞争。在中国占主导地位的叫车服务初创企业滴滴快的，最近也开始提供面向通勤乘客的拼车服务。

Didi Kuaidi, which has a more than 80 percent market share in China, lets customers choose between shuttle, bus or private car services, among other options in its highly popular app. This month, Didi Kuaidi announced a partnership with Lyft, Uber's main ride-hailing rival in the United States, which will let Lyft users from the United States find rides in China using the Lyft app and Didi Kuaidi users find rides in the United States using the Chinese app.

在中国占有超过80%市场份额的滴滴快的，在其广受欢迎的应用中提供班车、巴士、私家车，及其他选项。这个月， 滴滴快的宣布与Lyft合作，Lyft在美国的叫车市场上是优步的主要对手。这次合作将让美国Lyft用户使用Lyft应用在中国叫车，也让滴滴快的用户可以在美国使用滴滴快的应用打车。