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Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

blog.lyft.com

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Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#101

Post by thrownaway2424 »

floodfx wrote: post #92
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…

I've been riding the Casual Carpool for the last 6 years. Love it! The reason drivers don't care about "revenue" is that they are driving across the bridge anyway and care more about the time than money. Another way to think about it is the 30 minutes saved by picking up riders and getting into the carpool lane is payment enough. Also explains the reason why riding back to east bay is not "successful". It isn't parti…

I always wondered why they don't toll the reverse direction as well.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#102

Post by msellout »

bduerst wrote: post #66
msellout wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

But you have a good health and home insurance plan, right?

Home insurance? No. I live in a large apartment building so I'm not nervous about home invasion.

Health insurance? I've been punched by strangers (road rage, sigh) and haven't needed to go to the hospital. The kind of incident my mother imagines for me walking at night isn't the kind of incident where health insurance matters. Life insurance, though. I should probably get that.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#103

Post by api_or_ipa »

deegles wrote: post #23
jedberg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

The early worm gets eaten by the bird. The late one presumably enjoys the spoils.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#104

Post by msellout »

fillskills wrote: post #31
msellout wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Maybe I am overthinking it. Would love to see Carpooling succeed. Makes commutes easier and environment friendly. Lets hope for the best. Lyft itself is a great service. Never used Line before so cannot speak for that. Even having location tracking for your ride is a notch up.

Lyft Line and Uber Pool have significantly improved my standard of living. For me, it's cheaper and more convenient than owning a car.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#105

Post by jdmichal »

pbreit wrote: post #42
jdmichal wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance and regulation arbitrage is basically the name of the game for Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb as far as I can tell.

That sounds clever and informed but is mostly obnoxious.

I didn't mean to offend, but I apparently have. I truly believe what I said, so I would like to know how would you suggest I improve the comment?

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#106

Post by bertjk »

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...

Speaking of early rideshare entrants, I'm at least a bit amused that Ridester(http://www.ridester.com) is currently being auctioned off on Flippa.

https://flippa.com/5863667-ridester-com

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#107

Post by DanBC »

brandonmenc wrote: post #90
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…

A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?

Insurance companies tend to cover passengers, unless those passengers are there because you're doing weird things.

Car-pooling is sufficiently weird for insurers to require you to let them know you're doing it, and they may adjust the premiums.

As for whether I ask: yes, I do. Most of the people I get lifts from are insured as part of their job and a bunch of other people have checked for me; or it's public transport and again other people have checked for me.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#109

Post by massysett »

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…

What makes this even more concerning is that the driver's insurance company may decide he is carrying passengers for hire and, therefore, that the regular car insurance offers limited or no coverage.

My policy says it does not apply:

"To any vehicle used to carry persons or property for compensation or a fee, including but not limited to delivery of food or any other products...However, a vehicle used in an ordinary carpool on a ride sharing or cost sharing basis is covered."

The question would be whether this is an "ordinary carpool on a cost sharing basis." Lawyers are paid to argue about these things.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#110

Post by gambiting »

brandonmenc wrote: post #99
gambiting wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) I don't, but I don't have any friends who would be so stupid as to not have insurance. If I do, that means my choices in friends are poor, but I hope not. On the other hand, when I'm getting into a car with a stranger I would really like to know if they have insurance. Just like I don't check the food my friends are serving me to make sure it's fresh,but when I go to a restaurant I expect relevant agencies to make…

> I don't have any friends who would be so stupid as to not have insurance You might be surprised. Probably less surprising is that they might be insured, but have taken out the minimum required for passengers. > I'm honestly not sure what would be there to cover if I was a passenger though, even if I had to be hospitalized it wouldn't cost a penny Pain and suffering, lost wages, cosmetic surgery.

>>Probably less surprising is that they might be insured, but have taken out the minimum required for passengers.

In EU any car insurance, no matter the premium, has to cover minimum 5 million euro for bodily harm and 1 million euro in property damage, so this is not an issue. But lyft does not operate here so it does not matter.

>>Pain and suffering, lost wages, cosmetic surgery. Yeah, I can agree with those.

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