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Lyft adds a new app for drivers

businessinsider.com

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Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#91

Post by dnautics »

With the caveat that I don't work for Lyft DevOps or anything (I only used to be a driver way back when)... If you need to make a critical update to the driver side your code is solidly firewalled from having to pass integration tests with the passenger side, and there's a possibility that some problems bleed through between the two different parts of the app. In the early days, there were a few updates where such things leaked through (if I remember correctly, there was one version update where the passengers accidentally could see the primetime map).

Quite frankly, I'm suprised they hadn't done it sooner.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#92

Post by parent5446 »

programbreeding wrote: post #24
arthens wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"America" is a very large place. The taxi experience in NYC is going to be very different than somewhere in North Dakota (or even just another city, like Los Angeles).

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#93

Post by linkregister »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #52
kcanini wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they're going to the trouble of pre-arranging the ride, why don't they just use cash/Venmo/Square, and keep Uber's cut of the fare?

I've had at least a dozen Uber drivers suggest something similar when I road with them more than once. Almost all of them wanted to setup something so I'd pay less and they'd make more. I hadn't done it as I usually don't need Uber / Lyft much but most of the people I know who have used Uber / Lyft have also gotten similar offers so it must be pretty common I would think.

It sounds like a good incentive for UbLyft/Lyftber to make things so seamless that it's more hassle to set up an arrangement like that. Until then, that sounds like a good idea.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#94

Post by linkregister »

pfarnsworth wrote: post #5

I don't think scheduling a ride a few days in advance actually helps the drivers. One of the best things about Uber or Lyft for the drivers is that they don't have to think about scheduling, they're told exactly where to drive. If they have a scheduled ride and they forget about it, or they're stuck waiting around to make that ride and lose business, that doesn't seem like it will be popular. One big thing that Uber…

I agree. Almost every Uber driver I talk to is unhappy with the constant bonus grind. The bonuses tend to incentivize short rides, so my long ride requests make drivers unhappy. I don't see drivers sticking around if their working hours and pay don't improve.

The drivers are almost always running Lyft and Uber on separate phones, so it looks like a tremendous opportunity for both services to improve and capture the market.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#96

Post by eigenvector »

giarc wrote: post #61
will_pseudonym wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I would do with my driver. She'd arrive, and I would look up an Uber cost estimate, and then pay her cash for the average amount I was quoted. I also could ask her to run errands for me, using this same system.

It seems like there is no benefit to you at all. Paying the average amount means you're paying more than some fares. By paying cash, you lose out on all insurance in cash of an accident.

The benefit is that you can deal with a trusted driver rather than someone that takes 3 wrong turns on the way there then misses the exit for the airport.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#97

Post by eigenvector »

kcanini wrote: post #38
arthens wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I've had bad experiences like this with both taxis and Ubers. With Uber, I've had dozens of experiences where either (1) There were no drivers available in my area, (2) The drivers repeatedly canceled on me, or (3) The driver didn't cancel, but also never came to pick me up, and instead just drove in the opposite direction for 10-15 minutes. I now don't trust taxis, Uber, or Lyft to get me to the airport very early i…

A tactic some Uber drivers seem to use to avoid having to cancel (which can get them kicked off the platform if they do it too frequently) is to just drive away from you until you get frustrated and cancel on your end.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#98

Post by dfinninger »

sverige wrote: post #30

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.

I doubt it. If you aren't a driver I think it would be senseless to be running driver code at the same time as rider code. Maybe a little less disk (flash?), but I'm not certain. I'm neither a mobile dev or a Lyft employee.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#99

Post by dang »

throwaway3589 wrote: post #42

Why is this front page worthy? Uber has had these features for a while now. As someone else mentioned, Didi has had these features too. 71 upvotes so far. This just further reinforces my view that there is an active voting ring on HN manipulating Uber and Lyft stories in Lyft's favor, which is ironic since many of the comments on such stories talk about Uber being shady. Throwaway because I fully expect the voting ri…

Internet users are much too quick to interpret disagreement by others as nefarious bad faith. Please don't comment in that spirit here, unless you have evidence of abuse (in which case please send it to us at hn@ycombinator.com, so we can look into it). The overwhelming majority of the time, it's just other users who have different views than you do.

Re: Lyft adds a new app for drivers

#100

Post by stupidhn »

jngreenlee wrote: post #62
SilasX wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you mean, other than the ethical concerns? A) Who's insuring the ride? If it's not insured and the driver is at fault in a collision, there could be no one to pay for injuries to you -- Lyft/Uber certainly wouldn't owe anything for stuff booked outside their platform. Usually when they drive for a TNC, the TNC provides the insurance for the driver in the course of using the app. It's really unlikely for the…

This is a great point: Who's insuring the ride? [..] Lyft/Uber certainly wouldn't owe anything for stuff booked outside their platform. Most drivers have a "Rideshare Rider" from their auto insurance provider...but not sure if it extends to off-service rides

Your standard auto insurance is not going to cover using your car as a taxi. It will have to be disclosed, and you will pay for it.

The calculus is simple: liabltiy has increased and you have responsibility due to the commercial transaction.

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