Lyft
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Contents
History
John Zimmer and Logan Green founded Lyft on May 22nd, 2012. They originally created a company called Zimride in 2007, which was very similar to Lyft but was geared towards long distance rides connecting people through Facebook. [2] The lack of short distance journeys was what seemed to be missing from this company, which is why they created Lyft in San Francisco. [3] Lyft has given Uber some serious competition in low-priced private drivers that are accessible with the click of a button. Lyft complemented Zimride as these companies were accessible to ridesharers for long and short distances. As Lyft was growing, Zimride was sold to Enterprise on July 10th, 2013 as Lyft was far more profitable for Zimmer and Green. [4]
John Zimmer attended Cornell with a background in hospitality and was inspired by a class on green cities. When learning about cars and the road system he was intrigued by the low rate of occupancy of public transportation. He realized that if you could increase the occupancy by a mere 10% it would create a more efficient society. Logan Green has a background in transportation hacking as he built the first car-share program, even before Zipcar, at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He was constantly frustrated with the public transportation system and how it was funded. He wanted to build a transportation system that was operated and financed in a better way. [5]
Passenger Application Features
How to Start Using the Application
In order to utilize the service, users must create an account linked to their phone number and credit card, Google Wallet or PayPal account. When using the phone app, Lyft uses GPS tracking to determine the location of the user and the availability of cars around them. In order to request a ride, a user must confirm the pickup location and choose the class of car they prefer. The user can then add their destination and view a price estimate including any “prime time” surge charges. The user then taps the “Requests Lyft” button.
A driver within the vicinity is connected to the user and the application provides the driver’s estimated arrival time based upon the distance and current traffic conditions. As the Lyft approaches, the rider is provided the driver’s name, rating, type of car, and the license plate number. A user can track the location of their car on the application’s map. Users can view the estimated time until the car arrives, can contact the driver, split the fee for the ride with friends, send the ETA to others, and cancel the ride from this screen. [6]
In March 2015, Lyft made it possible for users to add personal profiles including where they are from and favorite music to encourage connections between passengers and drivers. [7]
Different Cars
Lyft
This is Lyft’s most basic car service and lowest cost option. This car seats up to four-passengers. [8]
Lyft Plus
This car seats up to 6 passengers and is more expensive than the basic Lyft car. [9]
Lyft Premier
This car is a luxury sedan that seats up to 4 passengers and is only available in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. These luxury vehicles have premium features like leather interiors made by manufacturers like Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar. [10]
Lyft Line
This service is similar to a carpool service that pairs you with other nearby passengers that have a similar end destination. This service is helpful to users who are commuting or travel to popular end destinations such as the airport. Lyft pairs you with a driver along your route and picks up and drops off users along the way. This service tends to be up to 60% less expensive than a regular Lyft as passengers share the fee in the big city markets. [11]
Pricing Equation
Pricing
Calculating ride payments are based off of 5 different factors: cost per mile, cost per minute, base charge, service fee, and prime time. The distance is the cost per each mile and the time is the cost per minute during the trip. The base charge is the flat charge assessed at the beginning of the trip and the service fee is the Lyft platform charge for each ride. Prime time is an additional surcharge added during the busy times. [12]
Lyft Prime Time
Prime time encourages drivers to be on the roads during the busy times of the day where demand is high. Prime time varies each second depending on how many people are requesting Lyft. If there is a Prime Time surge happening in the location, the user will receive a notification pop up with the added percentage requiring confirmation of their ride. For example, if a ride costs $10 (before other fees) and there is a 150% Prime Time, the ride will cost $25 (+ other fees). [14]
Two-Way Ratings
At the end of the ride, the driver and the passenger have the chance to rate each other on a scale of 1-5 stars. If either the passenger or the driver rates under 3 stars, they will never be paired again. If a driver is consistently getting low ratings, Lyft may deactivate the driver from the application. Each driver receives a weekly summary of their ratings with comments left by passengers. [15]
Political Involvement
Lyft is donating $1 million over the next four years to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This pledge is in response to the executive order that places limits on travel to the U.S. from certain countries signed by President Donald Trump to temporarily assess the risk of terrorists infiltrating the immigration system into the U.S. [16]
Competitors
There are many different forms of ride sharing which are arrangements where passengers travel in a private vehicle driven by its owner for a fee. Lyft's biggest rival is Uber who has dominated the ride-sharing industry since 2009. Uber is set up similar to Lyft as both companies require a ride-hailing application. Uber is worth $68 billion and dominates the industry in over 60 countries. [17] In order to compete with Uber, Lyft merged with a Chinese ride-sharing application called Didi Kuaidi. Didi Kuaidi controls about 80 percent of the ride-sharing market in China. This partnership will allow Didi Kuaidi to function in the United States and Lyft to operate in China. Lyft users will be able to use the Lyft application in China to find Didi Kuaidi drivers rather than redownloading a new service. [18]
Ethics
Disability Act Compliance
Local Regulations
Airport Policies
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ http://fortune.com/40-under-40/2015/logan-green-john-zimmer-3/.
- ↑ Zimride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimride
- ↑ https://successstory.com/companies/lyft/
- ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2013/09/09/zimmer-green-from-zimride-to-lyft/
- ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/lyft-ride-sharing-john-zimmer-2012-9
- ↑ https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/213584098-How-to-Request-a-Ride
- ↑ Company Site. https://www.lyft.com
- ↑ http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/whats-the-difference-between-lyft-lyftplus-and-line/
- ↑ http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/whats-the-difference-between-lyft-lyftplus-and-line/
- ↑ http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/whats-the-difference-between-lyft-lyftplus-and-line/
- ↑ http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/whats-the-difference-between-lyft-lyftplus-and-line/
- ↑ https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/214218147-Calculating-the-Cost-of-a-Lyft-Ride
- ↑ http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/how-much-does-lyft-cost-lyft-fare-estimator/.
- ↑ https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/213818898-Prime-Time-for-Passengers
- ↑ https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/213586008-Driver-and-Passenger-Ratings
- ↑ http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/29/14429452/lyft-donating-1-million-american-civil-liberties-union
- ↑ http://www.nasdaq.com/article/who-are-ubers-biggest-competitors-cm671829
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/technology/lyft-announces-deal-with-didi-kuadi-the-chinese-ride-hailing-company.html?_r=0
