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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

#51

Post by thrwwyh »

jellicle wrote: post #41
zymhan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Existing, old school carpool programs don't check to see if drivers have insurance, so how is this anything new?

Existing, old school carpool programs aren't paying their drivers, either. Which means it isn't commercial use. Which means your regular auto insurance covers it. Unlike this.

They get around this by limiting the amount of payment to the drivers' costs (i.e. the IRS standard mileage rate of $0.54/mile.)

From the TOS:

"...we may charge you to reimburse the Carpool Driver for the costs associated with a Carpool Ride provided to you. [...] Reimbursements may include per mile charges at up to the prevailing IRS standard mileage rate, and other expenses like tolls and parking fees." (Emphasis mine)

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#52

Post by zymhan »

jellicle wrote: post #41
zymhan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Existing, old school carpool programs don't check to see if drivers have insurance, so how is this anything new?

Existing, old school carpool programs aren't paying their drivers, either. Which means it isn't commercial use. Which means your regular auto insurance covers it. Unlike this.

I think it's debatable, legally, whether or not this constitutes commercial use. It's designed only for picking people up along a route you already drive regularly, and the monthly cap of $400 means no one could conceivably make a living off of it, even if they gamed it somehow and had multiple accounts.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#53

Post by joshandrews »

Cyph0n wrote: post #49
joshandrews wrote: post #34

We've been doing this in Vancouver, Canada for 5 weeks now ( http://sparerides.com ). It is great to see another player doing true ridesharing. Lyft actually started with a business model similar to this ( http://zimride.com ) but saw much greater growth with the taxi model so rebranded and pushed that instead. While HOV lanes are a large incentive for drivers, we have seen that many of our drivers here in Vancouver…

What do you mean by "carpooling does not provide an income to the driver"? I honestly wouldn't pick up people without compensation, especially for longer distances. So you just charge riders and the driver gets nothing? I'm curious because I'm planning on starting a similar venture in my home country.

Sorry, the correct word to use there would be profit. The driver does get paid, just not enough to exceed the operating cost of the vehicle and parking, which in Vancouver is roughly $0.58 per km.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#54

Post by thezilch »

Cookingboy wrote: post #44
loco5niner wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "up to" parts make me think they will be taking a cut ;-)

Well the math says they won't. If the most a rider can pay is $10, and if Lyft takes a cut, then the max the driver will receive will be less than $10, which is not what they say.

It says "drivers earn up to $10 per trip", which means a driver can earn nothing! Or the rider can pay "from $4-10"; Lyft takes no more than the rider(s) pay; and the driver takes the rest.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#56

Post by sivanmz »

I wanted to join their previous Line effort, but re-read my insurance policy and found it falls under prohibited commercial driving. The terms now encompass any participation in online ride-coordinating services. Government needs to step in because individually the insurers have no incentive to allow this.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#57

Post by giarc »

lettergram wrote: post #50
pc86 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For non-commercial purposes, sure.

I doubt lyft is making much if anything on this. It's likely just a way to get users to start using the app. If they use it daily it's more likely they'll use the standard lyft service too

I wonder if it will recommend a regular Lyft driver if there are no carpool matches.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#58

Post by levemi »

philip1209 wrote: post #27
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

People shouldn't just worry about "no insurance" but also underinsurance. Minimal insurance in many areas is ridiculously too low. If you're signing up to do this as a driver you better #1 Tell your auto insurance company and #2 Up your insurance levels to the max (something you should probably do anyways if you can afford it).

If you're signing up to do this as a rider, well I don't think you should given the insurance problems and you not having any guarantee that someone will be held liable if they cause an accident.

Getting into a bad accident with an underinsured driver at fault is a life changing event.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#59

Post by thrwwyh »

sivanmz wrote: post #56

I wanted to join their previous Line effort, but re-read my insurance policy and found it falls under prohibited commercial driving. The terms now encompass any participation in online ride-coordinating services. Government needs to step in because individually the insurers have no incentive to allow this.

Lyft is attempting to get around the limits on commercial activity by only reimbursing up to the driver's costs (see the TOS section on Reimbursements). But the terms you describe would seem to preclude even this. Do you mind saying which insurance company has those terms?

As to the question of incentives, I have pay-by-the-mile car insurance (from MetroMile, in SF). They would make more money if I took a detour and drove a little further, or if this service caused me to drive to work more frequently.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#60

Post by thrwwyh »

thezilch wrote: post #54
Cookingboy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the math says they won't. If the most a rider can pay is $10, and if Lyft takes a cut, then the max the driver will receive will be less than $10, which is not what they say.

It says "drivers earn up to $10 per trip", which means a driver can earn nothing! Or the rider can pay "from $4-10"; Lyft takes no more than the rider(s) pay; and the driver takes the rest.

The terms of service have a section reserving the right to impose a service fee. Not sure if there will be a fee at launch.

"Service Fee. In exchange for providing the Carpool Platform, Clara Rides may assess a service fee on each Carpool Ride (on either or both of the Carpool Rider or Carpool Driver). The amount of the applicable service fee shall be communicated to you in writing."

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