Lyft adds a new app for drivers • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#21

Post by rjuyal » Fri, May 26, 2017, 4:57 PM UTC

jngreenlee wrote: post #9

Kiro wrote: post #8

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I book taxis is when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Uber/Lyft it would take a lot before I would trust them with this.

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this. Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.

I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute.

Whenever someone say he uses Lyft over uber and I ask the reason. They always says they don't like Uber because they can't tip the driver. I understand there is tipping culture in USA so that could be reason to prefer Lyft.

Can I ask why would you prefer Lyft over Uber?

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#22

Post by jngreenlee » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:04 PM UTC

rjuyal wrote: post #21

jngreenlee wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this. Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.

I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute. Whenever…

The culture of Lyft (which will merge with the culture of Uber over time I believe) has been more friendly, more conversational where I live.

I always sit up front and talk with the person, learn what else they do, how long they've lived in the area.

When I try this with Uber (esp in SF), they often show me a thumb pointing towards the backseat instead!

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#23

Post by mattnewton » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

rjuyal wrote: post #21

jngreenlee wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this. Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.

I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute. Whenever…

Not Op but a few reasons why I prefer Lyft: The app is (subjectively much) nicer, the company seems to treat their drivers better, tipping let's me thank excellent drivers (rating less than 5 stars hurts their livelihood and I reserve for safety or other exceptional cases), Uber drivers annectodally have been less courteous and have canceled on me or refused to actually come to my spot, and Uber the corporation has garnered a bit of a reputation I am hesitant to support.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#24

Post by programbreeding » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

arthens wrote: post #18

Kiro wrote: post #8

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I book taxis is when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Uber/Lyft it would take a lot before I would trust them with this.

Are taxis more reliable than lift/uber where you live? My experience in Australia is the opposite. I never had a uber (no lift here) not showing up , while booking a taxi is almost like a lottery. Few years back our office manager booked 4 cabs for 6pm of the following day because we had a work function to go to. The first cab showed up at 6.50 after countless calls to the taxi company, the other never did. We ended…

Similar experience as you with taxis in America. About 6 months ago a good friend was getting married and we booked 3 taxis from one company to take us from his house to downtown. Ultimately the taxi company only sent one guy to drive back and forth 3 times, making it take almost an hour to get everyone there. Coming home 3 of us simply ordered 3 different ubers and we all got back in 10 minutes.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#25

Post by eridius » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

rjuyal wrote: post #21

jngreenlee wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this. Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.

I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute. Whenever…

I use Lyft over Uber because Uber is an awful company run by a scumbag and there have been dozens of different high-profile reasons over the years (and many of them in the past couple of months) that any one of them would be a good reason to drop Uber.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#26

Post by jswny » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

I think this is a very good idea! I know many people around where I live who use local Uber drivers whom they trust to schedule early-morning rides to the airport and things like that. The rider will have the driver come to his/her house at the specified time, and then the driver and the rider will both turn on Uber and the rider's request will be filled by that driver because nobody else is nearby that early. This would would make it much easier to do something like that for both the rider and the driver, and I see this as an important use case because it's really the only remaining one which many people would prefer to use a car service or taxi service than Uber/Lyft. It's also much more profitable for the driver so drivers will like this a lot. Great move on Lyft's part, maybe they could consider allowing riders to directly send requests to certain drivers. The point here being that riders using Lyft like a car service have drivers they trust to come on time, not cancel, etc. which are the only potential problems I see here.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#27

Post by maverick_iceman » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:09 PM UTC

Kiro wrote: post #8

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I book taxis is when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Uber/Lyft it would take a lot before I would trust them with this.

In SF I always take Uber to airports. I never had any problem.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#28

Post by BurningFrog » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:10 PM UTC

Paul-ish wrote: post #14

aptwebapps wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably another driver would pick it up - it wouldn't just get dropped.

That would require there to be another driver, which in a less populous area at 4AM might not be the case. It seems like there would need to be steep penalties on both parties if they cancel near the arranged time. Eg: Driver cancels 2 hours before pickup. Lyft penalizes driver x% of total fee, then uses that to "bid up" the price on that pickup to entice another driver to fulfill the request at the last minute. This…

I assume/hope the driver app has reminders and confirmations before the ride.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#29

Post by tbv » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC

rjuyal wrote: post #21

jngreenlee wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So this is of course anecdotal but the only time I use Lyft (I avoid Uber) when it's very important I get somewhere in time, like catching a plane early in the morning. Given the nature of Taxis, it would take a lot before I would trust Taxis with this. Edit: The last time I booked a taxi it was 2-3 years ago for a 4am ride to PDX. I booked two to be safe, only one came anyways.

I am a frequent user of Uber. I don't use Lyft at all. I don't see any reason to use Lyft over uber. It's price estimation is wrong. Uber says $39 for airport, Lyft says $35 - $46 for airport. Estimated time of arrival is also wrong. Uber says it will take 4 mins for driver to come while Lyft will say drive will reach in one minute. I mean I can see on the map there is no way driver can reach in one minute. Whenever…

I can't speak for jngreenlee, but a lot of people are uncomfortable with Uber's business tactics and ethics. Their HR team allegedly sidestepped one employee's very serious sexual harassment complaints, they've allegedly been complicit in using stolen LiDAR IP, along with a whole host of other shady things they've done in competition with Lyft.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#30

Post by sverige » Fri, May 26, 2017, 5:13 PM UTC

As a rider, I haven't noticed the Lyft app to be slow or especially bloated, so it will be interesting to see if it is significantly faster once the update pushes through with the driver portion removed.