UBER has announced that it is expanding its car-share service in central London as it tries to convince commuters to leave their cars at home.

The company has said that passengers will be able to request its UberPool service, where commuters travelling in the same direction share a journey, in all of zones one and two in the capital, as well as Heathrow Airport.

Uber is trying to attract more than one million customers who drive to work in London every day, and claims the expansion of the service can help reduce congestion and air pollution in the city.

The UberPool service was first launched in London at the end of 2015, shortly before the company said it had made one billion journeys since launching in 2010.

It is offering a £5 flat fare on weekdays from 5pm to midnight for the first two weeks of the expansion, it said.

Tom Elvidge, Uber’s general manager in London, said: “The more people share their Uber journey with another Londoner the more we can help to reduce congestion and air pollution.

“That is why we are expanding uberPool and giving more Londoners the option to leave their own car at home and share an Uber to get from A to B instead. Getting more people into fewer cars is what UberPool is all about and why we want more Londoners to try it out.”

It comes days after the privately held company, which is currently valued at around $60bn (£41bn), revealed that it was taking investment from Toyota as part of a “strategic partnership” with the Japanese motor company.

Earlier this month, Google launched its own carpooling service, Waze Carpool, which is being tested in San Francisco’s Bay Area and will pose a direct challenge to Uber.

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It seems like an Uber driver is charged with a violent crime nearly every day. It’s not a stretch—just three days ago, we reported on a driver who was arrested for strangling a college student in a dorm parking lot. Now here we are again.

A 52-year-old Uber driver from Gaithersburg, Maryland has been charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder for trying to shoot police officers with a homemade gun. The driver, Jonathan Hemming, is also facing 17 additional assault, drug and weapons charges. According to WJLA, he has “an extensive criminal record” that includes weapons possession, arson, armed robbery, burglary, vehicle theft and more, yet Mr. Hemming had no problem passing the Uber background check.

The incident occurred last week when Montgomery County officers surrounded Mr. Hemming’s car to arrest him on a bench warrant for multiple drug charges. He allegedly resisted arrest and attempted, but failed, to fire at the heads of two detectives with one of the two weapons police say he had in the vehicle. After placing Mr. Hemming in handcuffs, officers also found a needle cap, a prescription vial, a syringe, rubber tie off straps, live shotgun shells, live handgun rounds, a pill bottle, a metal pill holder, a handcuff key, garden clippers and a pocket knife in his pants pockets. Although police say there were no Uber passengers in the car at the time, it was confirmed that was the vehicle he is assigned to drive for Uber.

When asked about Mr. Hemming at an unrelated Uber press conference, spokeswoman Meghan Joyce told ABC7, “I can say that we take this responsibility extraordinarily seriously.”

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