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New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

blog.lyft.com

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Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#91

Post by toomuchtodo »

intopieces wrote: post #65
bduerst wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't work because Uber pays per person, not to a company. You'd have to get drivers to voluntarily give a cut of their take home to pay for insurance, the car, etc. without having a way to track what they actually make.

>You'd have to get drivers to voluntarily give a cut of their take home to pay for insurance, the car, etc. without having a way to track what they actually make. This is exactly what they do now, they just don't pay Uber, they pay those companies directly. But as a company with employees, they could negotiate a deal to get cars for cheaper, negotiate a better insurance rate, and save the driver the hassle. But then…

> inviting regulations that drive up costs.

Did you mean applying labor regulations where they're supposed to be applied? Of course employing people under labor law has a cost.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#92

Post by lsc »

SilasX wrote: post #50
kuschku wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is, this is how profitable it is effectively – any driver following the law will have to pay this much. And this is why uber can only currently provide their high margins because they provide no insurance between rides (only during rides), because they don’t follow laws, etc. It’s unfair competition, and sadly, people expect Lyft to offer the same.

IMHO, this is a misconception. Most of the benefit of Lyft/Uber comes from app convenience, being cashless, mutual rating to weed out the jerks, carpooling efficiency, transparency (easy to get estimates and know if you overpaid), good customer support, and reliability in getting a ride, all of which are legal and which cab companies could have done. They have a lot of room to raise prices before it outweighs those a…

>Most of the benefit of Lyft/Uber comes from app convenience, being cashless, mutual rating to weed out the jerks, carpooling efficiency, transparency (easy to get estimates and know if you overpaid), good customer support, and reliability in getting a ride, all of which are legal and which cab companies could have done.

You are ignoring the speed of getting a ride. I mean, all those things would help a lot for cabs, but if I had to wait half an hour, even if I knew it would only be half an hour, while that would be better than my previous cab experience, it still wouldn't be very useful.

If you want me to use the cab regularly, your average wait time needs to be 5 minutes or less. This means you need a lot of cabs on the road... a lot more than were in my area before this.

I'll put up with a lot of other bullshit, but if you make me wait, I'm not going to use your service, full stop.

I'm not sure that would be possible under the previous regulations. Improving dispatch only takes you so far; at some point you need more cabs on the road.

>They have a lot of room to raise prices before it outweighs those advantages. Remember, people were using UberBlack (as "UberCab" way back then), which simply took existing, fully-insured car service drivers, which had no regulatory advantage, long before UberX/Lyft.

Now, here's where we need to stop and remember that the average HN user makes a lot more money than the average person. Yes, for you and me? it's about convenience.

That's the thing, I'd be fine paying uber black rates; but waiting is not a luxury experience. At the same price, I'd much rather ride in a ratty honda that shows up in four minutes than take a limo that takes twenty minutes.

But there are a lot of people for whom the price matters a whole lot. There are more of them than there are of us, by a lot. If Uber only wants to keep me as a customer, yes, they can double prices for me. but their customer base is massively larger if they are cheaper than cabs, and the larger their customer base, the more cars they will have wandering around, and the less time I need to wait for a car.

I suspect that if uber doubled their prices, their ridership (and thus drivers on the road) would fall to the point where my wait times would increase to the point where I would no longer find the service interesting.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#93

Post by nommm-nommm »

bsder wrote: post #89
nommm-nommm wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just spent two weeks in the UK as a tourist. I had a wonderful time. Perhaps it was me? But I used cash much much more than I do in the US. I pulled out my credit card in a pub and got scolded. Perhaps because I was outside the big cities? It might be me but I perceived the culture in smaller town Scotland to be more cash oriented than I am used to in the USA. I personally saw more people pay with cash than I am us…

> I pulled out my credit card in a pub and got scolded. Probably because you didn't have chip and pin. If an establishment takes a card without chip and pin in the UK/Europe, the fraud rules are very different.

Excuse me? I certainly DO have a chip and pin, thank you very much!!! The scolding was from fellow patrons. "Why are you waving around that card? That isn't welcome around here. That's not how we do things around here." They didn't have card readers in sight either so..... I was expecting to pay cash anyways, I figured I'd just try card first... I just felt very embarrassed trying to pay card in a cash establishment. It was very clear it was an "old school" type establishment....

I do have chip and pin and I wouldn't have left without a chip and pin card (I have more than one out of my 8 credit cards, not counting debit cards...which I have several as well...). There was absolutely zero reason to believe a perceived lack of chip and pin was an issue from what I wrote.

Also the fraud rule are/will be different in the US as well.

I went to a deli they told me that I have to ahev £10 minimum to use a card. I went to a restaurant and they had a £1.50 surcharge for card as well and encouraged me to pay in cash.

The first time I used card while I was there was at Wetherspoons... lol...

I also base my feelings on my personal observations of watching other people pay for things as well. Of course my "feeling" could be off base as well. People are known for getting a wrong impression sometimes.

That being said - I still love Scotland and will visit again in a heartbeat. In fact I hope to visit again in the near future!

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#94

Post by vivekpreddy »

mc32 wrote: post #90
chipgap98 wrote: post #2

I know Uber has the dominate market share, but I really enjoy life. I notice that I get better, friendlier service from the drivers and I like having the option to tip. They have rolled out a lot of impressive features and programs recently. I hope, at the very least, their actions will pressure Uber into some similar moves

I'm the opposite. I want a known fee or fare. I don't want to have to think if I need to tip or not tip. Is the tip expected or is it optional gratitude for exceptional service? No, just tell me the amount. Most of the world works this way. Even in places where bribes are routine, there isn't as much tipping. Restaurants are moving away, slowly, from the tipping model, mostly due to increases in base wages, making it…

I'm a heavy Lyft user, and I only tip when I have a particularly impressive ride (i.e. Driver goes above and beyond to be accommodating or I had a very insightful conversation). There is no expectation to tip, and I have never met a driver that's been offended with there being no tip. This with over 1k rides...

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#95

Post by swagswag »

chipgap98 wrote: post #2

I know Uber has the dominate market share, but I really enjoy life. I notice that I get better, friendlier service from the drivers and I like having the option to tip. They have rolled out a lot of impressive features and programs recently. I hope, at the very least, their actions will pressure Uber into some similar moves

I enjoy life also.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#96

Post by misiti3780 »

mc32 wrote: post #90
chipgap98 wrote: post #2

I know Uber has the dominate market share, but I really enjoy life. I notice that I get better, friendlier service from the drivers and I like having the option to tip. They have rolled out a lot of impressive features and programs recently. I hope, at the very least, their actions will pressure Uber into some similar moves

I'm the opposite. I want a known fee or fare. I don't want to have to think if I need to tip or not tip. Is the tip expected or is it optional gratitude for exceptional service? No, just tell me the amount. Most of the world works this way. Even in places where bribes are routine, there isn't as much tipping. Restaurants are moving away, slowly, from the tipping model, mostly due to increases in base wages, making it…

"Restaurants are moving away, slowly, from the tipping model, mostly due to increases in base wages, making it unpalatable for all but the rich, to pay a premium price and a tip on top of that."

they are ?

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#97

Post by bsder »

SilasX wrote: post #50
kuschku wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is, this is how profitable it is effectively – any driver following the law will have to pay this much. And this is why uber can only currently provide their high margins because they provide no insurance between rides (only during rides), because they don’t follow laws, etc. It’s unfair competition, and sadly, people expect Lyft to offer the same.

IMHO, this is a misconception. Most of the benefit of Lyft/Uber comes from app convenience, being cashless, mutual rating to weed out the jerks, carpooling efficiency, transparency (easy to get estimates and know if you overpaid), good customer support, and reliability in getting a ride, all of which are legal and which cab companies could have done. They have a lot of room to raise prices before it outweighs those a…

As much as I hate the serfitude economy companies, the fact that the cab companies have not adopted the app approach boggles my mind.

I would have zero problem calling a cab, even with the regulated cab prices, if they had a Lyft/Uber-like app. Hit the button, accepted in 60 seconds, tracked to your door. The fact that the cab companies simply won't do this grinds my gears.

This is also why Lyft/Uber grind my gears. JUST BE A COMPETENT CAB COMPANY and people would love you. Uber/Lyft doesn't have to flout the existing laws while lobbying to get them changed.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#98

Post by intopieces »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #91
intopieces wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You'd have to get drivers to voluntarily give a cut of their take home to pay for insurance, the car, etc. without having a way to track what they actually make. This is exactly what they do now, they just don't pay Uber, they pay those companies directly. But as a company with employees, they could negotiate a deal to get cars for cheaper, negotiate a better insurance rate, and save the driver the hassle. But then…

> inviting regulations that drive up costs. Did you mean applying labor regulations where they're supposed to be applied? Of course employing people under labor law has a cost.

Yes, that's precisely what I mean. And that's what makes this kind of move from Lyft so interesting. They're walking a fine line. Banking on the time it takes to be regulated as runway for pivoting to automation. Google says they'll be delivering fully autonomous cars by 2020. If we give Google til 12/31/20, that's more than 5 years out. Seems like Uber/Lyft will be regulated hard before that, unless they've got something up their sleeve.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#99

Post by septerr »

what if Uber/Lyft etc let you lend your car to drivers? So instead of sitting in the parking lot, an uber driver could be driving it. Uber/Lyft could background check the drivers. I wonder if it will be worthwhile for them to provide insurance against theft. The driver would also need to be added to your personal insurance I guess....the insurance companies might eventually come up with plans specific for this type of scenarios.

Re: New Initiatives for Lyft Drivers

#100

Post by learning_still »

mc32 wrote: post #90
chipgap98 wrote: post #2

I know Uber has the dominate market share, but I really enjoy life. I notice that I get better, friendlier service from the drivers and I like having the option to tip. They have rolled out a lot of impressive features and programs recently. I hope, at the very least, their actions will pressure Uber into some similar moves

I'm the opposite. I want a known fee or fare. I don't want to have to think if I need to tip or not tip. Is the tip expected or is it optional gratitude for exceptional service? No, just tell me the amount. Most of the world works this way. Even in places where bribes are routine, there isn't as much tipping. Restaurants are moving away, slowly, from the tipping model, mostly due to increases in base wages, making it…

Although I agree when it comes to Uber. I mean, I don't need great service from my Uber driver, I just need them to get me from point A to point B. However, the restaurant service I've gotten in places outside the United States is just awful. It's 15-20 minutes before you'll see your server again, regardless of whether the place is busy or empty.
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