Uber launches a ‘quiet mode’ for people who hate talking to taxi drivers

Since its launch in 2009, Uber has added more and more features to its app, including the ability to car share with other customers and pay extra for luxury options. Its most recent addition, however, will appeal to those who enjoy nothing more than a quiet taxi ride and dislike discussing politics and sport with their drivers. What is ‘quiet car’ mode? Uber has launched a new feature which allows customers to request how much their driver will speak to them during the journey. The service, available when booking a ride through Uber’s luxury car service Uber Black, is also being rolled out alongside other features in the first upgrade to the premium service for a few years, reports The Verge. Customers will also be able to request help with luggage or to ask for the car to be a certain temperature. They will also be able to ask for more time before getting in the car to avoid late pickup fees and can speak directly to Uber customer service if something goes wrong. The new features are currently only available in the US, but are likely to be rolled out further if successful. Uber’s premium features don’t come cheap Uber Black is the company’s premium service and fares represent this by being, on average, around 100 per cent more expensive than Uber X. They are even more expensive than Uber Pool, where riders share the single car, coming in at around 200 per cent more. Speaking to TechCrunch, Uber product manager Aydin Ghajar said: “We’re looking to create more differentiation between the premium products and the regular products to encourage more trips. “[Quiet mode] is something that people have been asking for for a long time.” There are no details on when the feature will come to the UK. This article originally appeared on our sister site, Edinburgh Evening News.