Lyft Plus • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft Plus

#21

Post by vrnayini » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:13 PM UTC

massysett wrote: post #10

The thing seats six, which is overkill for a typical ride of one to three people. I guess they are going for a Super Shuttle kind of market of carting around assorted distinct customers. A souped up Explorer does beat a Ford van. But as anyone who has ridden in a Super Shuttle can tell you, it takes too long and doesn't save you much money over a cab anyway.

I'm sure the ride is private and not shared as in a Super Shuttle. The service seems to be more in position to compete with Uber SUV than Uber Black Car, where the best value is really in using it for larger groups of 5 or 6 people.

Re: Lyft Plus

#22

Post by izzydata » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:16 PM UTC

Why do so many new sites use this exact style of website? It's like it is so supposed to be new, modern and minimalist, but it is getting old already.

Re: Lyft Plus

#23

Post by prezjordan » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:19 PM UTC

tibbon wrote: post #7

toomuchtodo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber went into Lyft's space with Uber X. Lyft is going into Uber's space with Lyft premium. For Lyft users who prefer not using Uber is who its for.

As someone who has used both services (and others like Sidecar) they are all about the same to me. Generally, Lyft seems a little friendlier than Uber. However honestly all are light years ahead of a yellow cab- in which the drivers rarely accept cards (machine broken), refuse to use GPS, and talk on the phone nonstop (despite the laws on that).

Aren't there laws against the whole "machine broken" thing?

Re: Lyft Plus

#24

Post by aviv » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:20 PM UTC

ajaymehta wrote: post #16

Fascinating that Lyft seems to be owning and administering the actual vehicles with Plus (custom Ford Explorers). To my knowledge, none of these services do that yet.

RubyRide in Phoenix also maintains its own fleet. However, unlike Uber and Lyft, it's a subscription-based personalized driver service.

Re: Lyft Plus

#25

Post by w0ts0n » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:21 PM UTC

Do they still require Facebook?

I don't have a Facebook account. I wanted to try/use this service in SF but was disappointed when it required me to sign into Facebook.

Re: Lyft Plus

#26

Post by eli » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:25 PM UTC

prezjordan wrote: post #23

tibbon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has used both services (and others like Sidecar) they are all about the same to me. Generally, Lyft seems a little friendlier than Uber. However honestly all are light years ahead of a yellow cab- in which the drivers rarely accept cards (machine broken), refuse to use GPS, and talk on the phone nonstop (despite the laws on that).

Aren't there laws against the whole "machine broken" thing?

Yes.

Re: Lyft Plus

#27

Post by nemothekid » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:25 PM UTC

izzydata wrote: post #22

Why do so many new sites use this exact style of website? It's like it is so supposed to be new, modern and minimalist, but it is getting old already.

I'm not sure its supposed to be "new, modern and minimalist", just responsive.

Almost all of Lyfts customers have only ever interacted with Lyft via mobile.

Re: Lyft Plus

#28

Post by caffinatedmonk » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:25 PM UTC

If this drove itself that would be amazing.

Re: Lyft Plus

#29

Post by rdl » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:25 PM UTC

massysett wrote: post #10

The thing seats six, which is overkill for a typical ride of one to three people. I guess they are going for a Super Shuttle kind of market of carting around assorted distinct customers. A souped up Explorer does beat a Ford van. But as anyone who has ridden in a Super Shuttle can tell you, it takes too long and doesn't save you much money over a cab anyway.

It really seats 3 passengers plus the driver. A Town Car is an easier option for 4 adult passengers. I don't think adults are going to want to be in the middle seat in the middle row, or in the third row. I guess drunk people would, or children.

Re: Lyft Plus

#30

Post by iambateman » Thu, May 08, 2014, 7:27 PM UTC

mrbrowning wrote: post #15

tibbon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has used both services (and others like Sidecar) they are all about the same to me. Generally, Lyft seems a little friendlier than Uber. However honestly all are light years ahead of a yellow cab- in which the drivers rarely accept cards (machine broken), refuse to use GPS, and talk on the phone nonstop (despite the laws on that).

What I wonder about Lyft is the extent to which friendliness scales. That it has scaled so far is obviously due to the fact that they can simply project that sense of friendliness and then rely on individual drivers to actually do the work of giving that impression to customers, but what if they want to expand their business into domains where friendliness is unimportant or even a downside (an example might be someth…

1. Friendliness is always important in customer interaction. 2. Chick-fil-A is an example of "friendliness" scaling up to x0,000 employees. 3. No, being nice is not a straightjacket in the making.