Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#21

Post by chockablock » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 5:53 PM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #17

A few notes on items I find a bit strange here. 1. To get from the East Bay to SF in the carpool lane you need 2 passengers (3 people total - or a car that only seats two) 2. The East Bay already has a pretty nice system for this called the Casual Carpool which is probably its biggest competition. The Casual Carpool is just a bunch of spots (usually BART Stations) where drivers can stop and pick up a few other passen…

Casual carpool does not solve the first/last mile problem, though. Lyft Carpool seems to be door-to-door.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#22

Post by fillskills » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

How do they handle commutes back? With carpooling to work, that is always my biggest concern - will I be able to get a ride back.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#23

Post by deegles » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #5

andy_ppp wrote: post #3

Lyft are spending time and money on things like this (it looks great to be fair) but they can't be bothered to compete with Uber in markets outside of the US. Seems a bit of a shame really...

They need to grow within their budget -- Uber has way more funding than they do. Lyft is scaling by leveraging technology to be better. Uber is doing that but also burning cash opening in new markets. The only way Lyft can compete is to out-innovate Uber.

Plus, why waste money validating the market when Uber is doing it for them :)

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#24

Post by Eridrus » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #4

I wonder what this will do the the already established causal carpool for crossing the bay bridge. At the moment, it's free for riders, the benefit for the driver being that they skip the toll. On the upside, I had a friend who was a rider, and had lots of stories of terrible drivers. Once he witnessed the driver hit a person and then drive off, and then drop off my friend. My friend called the police, but I guess wi…

> I wonder what this will do the the already established causal carpool for crossing the bay bridge. At the moment, it's free for riders, the benefit for the driver being that they skip the toll.

Depends on how big the market is/how it's shaped; if there are more riders who are willing to pay than drivers and drivers can easily find a rider not too far out of their route then the cars at the carpool will dry up.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#25

Post by fillskills » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 5:59 PM UTC

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

Excellent find. This is concerning.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#26

Post by Kinnard » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 6:01 PM UTC

fillskills wrote: post #25

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

Excellent find. This is concerning.

That is how carpooling works.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#27

Post by philip1209 » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 6:04 PM UTC

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

No insurance is a huge red flag to me

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#28

Post by hencq » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 6:07 PM UTC

huac wrote: post #12

I expected a feature similar to UberPool but having the limitations on this being your daily commute is very cool. Encourages a different set of drivers and seems friendlier.

Lyft's alternative to UberPool is called Lyft Line. Pretty sure they actually launched that (a bit) before Uber as well.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#29

Post by msellout » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 6:07 PM UTC

fillskills wrote: post #25

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

Excellent find. This is concerning.

I'm not concerned. I also walk around my neighborhood at night, even though some folks have told me that's not safe.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#30

Post by cvburgess » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 6:10 PM UTC

assoteric wrote: post #13

interesting. didn't lyft start off as zimride which is a carpool app? https://zimride.com/ http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/29/6000-words-about-a-pink-mus...

Yes they did, the founder of Lyft gave a speech at SXSW last year on the evolution of Zimride => Lyft. He said that "the focus of Lyft would continue to be and always has been reducing the number of empty seats on the road." (paraphrasing)