Cheap Rides

Inexpensive rides make Lyft less dependable - Quartz

I had a terrible period a few months ago trying to get a lymph. One I asked for was a joint trip known as Lyft Line around 10:20. I was asked to vote with Vikram, a rider who was in the awkward situation of having to go nine minute's away from Lower Manhattan to collect me from Brooklyn city centre, whereupon he would take another 10 or 15 minute's trip to Brooklyn to set me down.

Lyft charged me $4.53 for this journey, and I can't believe it paid Vikram much more. It is enough to say that I was not shocked when Lyft told me seven moments later that he had "found another rider who is already on his way". "This new, hyperbolically enhanced game was another nine moments away.

Over the next 13-minute period, I watched the rider squirm around the Brooklyn net and witnessed the special kind of fear that comes from seeing your rider's avatar wander slow, perhaps even deliberately in the opposite notch. So I gave up, cancelled the drive (we realized there was a trouble with your drive, Lyft was being helped) and was coordinated with a third rider, Aliaskar, who came 30 min after I first asked for the journey to take me home.

Saying that everyone was heading towards Greenpoint, another neighbourhood in Brooklyn, where rate was much higher, and that motorists were probably not interested in my cheap Lyft Line ticket. Tales like these are like sand on the sea, but they point to a major problem: if ticket prices are too cheap, the services are less dependable.

Another more radical part of my Brooklyn adventure came from a pilots name Darryl who ordered a Lyft from Hermosa Beach, California, to Los Angeles International Airport in April. Lyft Darryl's first rider to contact was 15 min away and was cancelled. Then the second rider took the ticket and left LAX to collect Darryl.

And then, about midway through the journey, the rider left Darryl in a car park and came to the conclusion that he would only make about $6 for a journey that would take an hours from shipping to dropping off. When Darryl's tale was featured in the locals media, many folks were blaming the rider, but I would say that the true mistake was Lyft.

After all, the riders don't have much to choose from in terms of their rides and guests, and it was Lyft who organised a journey that didn't make sense for the rider. The same could be said about my last journey through Brooklyn. It' s great for me as a user that Lyft is offering a $4.53 drive, but it's less great if the payment for that drive is so low that no one wants to take the pick.

Campbell Matthews, Lyft spokesman, said in an e-mail that waiting time in New York City averages about five mins. "At a time of high passenger demands, customers can see a higher ETA as we work to offer customers an accessible journey and give operators a chance," she said. Driver may dislike raising prices, but it makes sure that those who are willing to spend more are able to travel quickly because the higher tariff makes the journey more rewarding for a larger number of driver.

Lyft's extremely low rates could very well do the opposite - and make the experience less trustworthy by enticing consumers with low rates who eventually won't accept the driver. $4.53 drive looks good till half an hours later if you're still holding. Update to add more information from Lyft.