Uber Is Rolling Out A Major New DC Metro Feature

WASHINGTON, DC — Uber is looking to make the lives of Metro riders easier by adding a new feature to its app that will display wait times for Metro trains and buses.

Uber has described itself in the past as a "first-mile, last-mile" option for commuters in the D.C. area who depend on Metro. But now, they're going a step forward by partnering with Transit, an app that displays a dashboard of wait times for trains and buses nearby, Uber said in a Tuesday blog post.

The idea is to allow an Uber rider approaching a Metro station to see when the next train is leaving, or how far the nearest bus is.

"Getting around their city for many riders is a multimodal affair. ... [K]eeping tabs on upcoming departure times for the train while in an Uber means toggling between apps," Uber said. "We want to make it easier for riders to combine Uber with public transit, so we’ve integrated with the Transit app on Android in nearly 50 U.S. cities."

D.C. will be one of those cities.

"Starting today, when riders are in an Uber and their destination is or a block away from a transit stop, we’ll begin showing them upcoming departure times in the Uber feed," the blog post adds. "We’ll refresh these times regularly so riders have the latest information right at their fingertips. And if they want to learn more, one tap will take them to the Transit app for a-to-b directions, service disruption information, and more."

Image via Uber