Chicago Residents Can Now Use Scheduled Ride Feature on Uber

CHICAGO, IL — Have you ever wished you could schedule an Uber in advance so you could sleep soundly knowing you'll have a ride at 4 a.m. to the airport? Now Chicago Uber riders can, with the "Scheduled Rides" feature coming out today.

The scheduled rides feature allows riders to request an Uber from 30 minutes to up to 30 days ahead of time, instead of requesting a car right at the moment they need it.

Uber first announced the feature in June and said it was a highly requested feature from business travels. It's already rolled out in numerous cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

“Even though we’re an on-demand company, we totally get it,” Tom Fallows, Uber’s director of global experiences, told Wired. “Sometimes you just want that extra reassurance that your Uber will be there when you want to leave."

Uber will send you reminders 24 hours ahead of your scheduled ride, and again 30 minutes before. Users can cancel the ride at any time without a penalty, as long as the driver isn't already on the way.

As of right now, scheduled rides are only available to users who have a business profile set up on the service.

Photo via Dave H/Flickr