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Lyft nixed its surge cap and didn't tell riders
Surge pricing is an expensive fact of life for Uber and Lyft riders, but Lyft's policy was to cap their "Prime Time" surge prices at 3x normal. In February Lyft informed drivers it was removing the surge cap — but nobody told the riders. So much for disclosure.
Uber, Lyft drivers will need a business permit in San Francisco
Uber and Lyft drivers in San Francisco will have to register for a business permit if they want to continue earning money from giving and sharing rides. City Treasurer Jose Cisneros has begun sending out letters to 37,018 drivers in the city letting them know of the new requirement, according to SFGate. It's unclear how Cisneros got a hold of their names and why he's suddenly decided to enforce a new rule. But SFGate notes that the city is basically telling the companies that if they refuse to recognize their drivers as employees, then they have to require them to get business permits as contractors. Also, if every driver applies for one, which costs $91 a year for those who make $100,000 or less in gross receipts, then the city will make $3.37 million a year.
Lyft and partners make it easy to get a ride in Asia
If you're taking a trip to China or Southeast Asia, Lyft could be a valuable addition to your arsenal of travel apps. Starting this week, it will be able to access rides you can hail through its partners Didi if you're in China and Grab if you're in SE Asia. You won't have to download a separate app or set up a new account, and you can even pay in dollars with the credit card you already have on file. It also works the other way around: folks from those regions can simply fire up Lyft whenever they visit the US and pay in their own currency.
Lyft Line expanding to six more cities
Today, Lyft announced that its Line shared ride feature will launch in six new cities. The service will roll out in Denver, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle and Newark starting April 11.
Behind Facebook Messenger's plan to be an app platform
A year ago, Facebook announced at its F8 developer conference that Messenger would evolve into more than a simple chat app. For one thing, you'd be able to chat with businesses and stores to, say, get an update on an order or make reservations at a restaurant. But the big reveal was that Facebook was turning Messenger into a platform for other apps. The initial integration was with GIF keyboards and games, but fast-forward a year later and you can see the idea starting to take shape. You can now request an Uber or a Lyft right within Messenger or share a song with your chat buddy via Spotify. Soon you might even be able to book a flight or pay for store purchases -- all without leaving Messenger.
Lyft drivers would make more as employees, estimates show
Critics claim that ridesharing companies stiff drivers by labeling them as contractors rather than full employees, but how much are they losing out on, really? Quite a bit, if you ask those drivers' lawyers. In the wake of Lyft's proposed lawsuit settlement over worker statuses, the attorneys have produced a court-ordered estimate showing that the average driver would have made an additional $835 in expense reimbursements over the past 4 years if treated as full-fledged staff. That may not sound like much, but most of the drivers covered in the lawsuit worked just 60 hours over those years -- that's a lot of money for relatively little effort. Particularly busy drivers would have earned considerably more, according to the calculations.
OnStar is helping GM plan for an autonomous-car future
General Motors has been on a tear lately. The automaker recently invested $500 million in Lyft and acquired both self-driving startup Cruise and ride-share company Sidecar. And that's all since January. But there's one thing that GM has had for years that might give it an edge over the competition: OnStar.
Lyft has a new carpooling service for the Bay Area
If you're in the Bay Area, you can add Lyft's upcoming carpooling service to the list of ridesharing options you can use to get around. The company has joined forces with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and SF Bay's 511 Rideshare program to launch a new carpooling service separate from its other products. Based on the info available on its website, it'll work just like any other similar offering: simply tell the app your route, and it will match you with people going the same way. You save money, and so will they.
GM teams up with Lyft to offer drivers short-term rentals
If you've been eyeing the ride sharing economy but your car isn't up to snuff Lyft and GM have teamed up to offer short-term rentals to would-be drivers. The Express Drive program is launching later this month in Chicago and will be launching shortly in Baltimore, Washington DC. and Boston.
Lyft wants you to hail rides through Facebook Messenger
You can already request an Uber car through Facebook Messenger, but what if you prefer to get around in Lyft cars? Don't worry, you're covered. The mustachioed ridesharing outfit has released a public programming toolkit that lets developers integrate Lyft features into virtually any app, with Facebook Messenger being the lead partner. If you happen to live in one of 11 launch cities (including Austin, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC), you can now use Messenger to ask for a ride in between chats with your friends. The feature will be available to all Messenger users in the US next week.
US Chamber of Commerce suing Seattle over ridesharing unions
When Seattle approved Uber and Lyft drivers organizing in December, the city did it knowing that the practice was illegal. Independent contractors aren't allowed to do so under federal law because it basically amounts to price fixing. And now the inevitable has happened: The United States Chamber of Commerce is suing Seattle because the city allowed the on-demand workers to unionize, Reuters reports. It doesn't sound like Emerald City is going down without a fight, though. Councilman Mike O'Brien says that there are "millions of dollars" in place for what could be a lengthy legal battle.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: 'Deathproof' vehicles and more!
Many automakers are working on self-driving cars, but Volvo is the first to announce plans for completely "deathproof" vehicles by the year 2020. Meanwhile, General Motors invested $500 million in Lyft to create a network of autonomous vehicles. Snowstorms snarl traffic, but engineers have a solution: electric roads that de-ice themselves without the need for road salt. We also spotted a unique circular bridge in Uruguay that encourages drivers to slow down and enjoy the view. And Ford teamed up with fashion designers to debut a collection of couture made from recycled upholstery.
Lyft will pay $12.25 million to settle drivers' lawsuit in CA
One company is done battling a gig economy-related lawsuit, at least in California. Lyft has agreed to grant its drivers more workplace protection and to pay $12.5 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit. The California drivers who filed the lawsuit against the company wanted to be reclassified as employees in order to receive minimum wage and benefits, as well as to get Lyft to pay for their gas and vehicle maintenance. While they've unfortunately failed to get their status changed -- they're still considered contractors -- drivers in the state will get part of the settlement fund based on the hours they've put into working for the company.
SF's Yellow Cab blames lawsuits, Uber and Lyft for bankruptcy
San Francisco's Yellow Cab Co-op has filed for bankruptcy, a few weeks after the first reports came out that it was on the verge of doing so. According to San Francisco Examiner, the biggest taxi company in the city blamed two things in the documents it submitted: 1.) lawsuits and 2.) ride-sharing services. Yellow Cab President Pamela Martinez wrote that the Co-op is self-insured unlike other cab companies. "On a short term basis, the ability to self-insure resulted in lower operating costs," the document read. "However, self-insurance exposed Yellow Cab to risks of catastrophic losses, which ultimately occurred."
Lyft taps Google's Waze maps to make rides more efficient
Looking to keep pace with Uber, Lyft set out to improve the overall experience for both drivers and passengers. Today, the transportation service announced a "first-of-its-kind partnership" with Google's Waze. Using the Waze Transport SDK, Lyft says it'll make its service more efficient for folks offering rides and eager customers looking to secure one. With Waze's real-time route updates, drivers will be matched with another pickup on their way to a destination. This should cut own on wait times once you hail a car in the app.
GM quietly buys failed Uber rival Sidecar
They won't say it out loud, but car makers are secretly terrified about what Uber will do to their business. That's why GM is buying up the remains of one of its rivals, Sidecar, in a deal worth somewhere close to $30 million. Bloomberg is reporting that the auto outfit has picked up the knowledge and IP of the service that struggled against its wealthier rivals like Lyft and Uber, shutting down last December. Most of the employees will be moving over to GM, although co-founder Sunil Paul isn't one of them.
Lyft is dropping prices to get you out of the house
It's so cold outside. Well maybe not right now (thanks climate change), but the colder weather does tend to keep us indoors and out of ride-hailing services. To lure us out of our warm abodes, Lyft is cutting prices on rides in 33 cities. Some of the cities with reduced fares include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC. Sorry New York and Chicago, you're still on the hook for full price.
Lyft takes you to the doctor even if you don't have a phone
People who don't have a cellphone need rides too, and Lyft is looking to lending a hand. The transportation service teamed up with National Medtrans Network in New York City to take folks to the doctor who can't hail a ride from the app. Instead, Lyft has a web-based Concierge tool that allows service providers to book rides for them. After the rider's name, pick-up and drop-off addresses are entered, a Lyft driver will be dispatched when the time comes. This NYC partnership is a pilot for the Concierge feature, so there's no word on when, or if, it'll make its debut in other cities. [Image credit: Lyft]
San Francisco's biggest Taxi company to file for bankruptcy
If the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's word isn't enough, take it directly from taxi companies: ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are taking business from traditional cab drivers. According to a report from the San Francisco Examiner, Yellow Cab Co-op, the biggest taxi company in the city, is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy.
GM and Lyft team up to create self-driving vehicle network
Lyft and General Motors may be runners-up in their respective industries, but a partnership between the two could significantly boost both driverless vehicles and ride-sharing tech. The companies announced a joint venture to develop a network of autonomous cars, a first for a ride-sharing company and automaker. In the short-term, GM will provide vehicle rentals and its OnStar network to Lyft drivers, while Lyft will offer perks to GM drivers, presumably via trips for vehicle owners. In the long term, however, the companies plan to develop "a network of on-demand autonomous vehicles" developed by GM that might one day pick you up from the curb.
