Lyft launches new carpooling service for environmental purposes

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ride-hailing service Lyft launched a new carpooling service in the Bay Area Tuesday, March 29 that it insists is entirely different from all the other carpooling services out there, including its own Lyft Line, the Verge said.

Lyft Carpool will "tap into a completely different population of drivers" by making the act of picking up a complete stranger on the way to work, and getting paid to do it, easier than it's ever been, the company says.

Drivers who want to participate have to share details about their daily commute with Lyft. Then, before they're ready to leave for work, they will receive a push notification asking if they would like to pick up a potential passenger along the way. If they agree, they can then use the High Occupancy Vehicle lane along Highway 101 in California, and earn up to $10 for the trip, while the passenger will pay $4-$10 for the ride. Based on the route information, Lyft Carpool will never send drivers "more than a few minutes out of their way" to pick up riders, said Lev Popov, product manager at the company. The service will be available first in the Bay Area, but Lyft plans on rolling it out to other markets soon after, the Verge reported.

Lyft envisions its carpool drivers to be average people going to work who don't mind giving a lift to someone heading in the same direction. Drivers won't earn more than $10 per ride, nor will riders pay more than the same amount. "Drivers on Lyft Carpool would only be able to recover the cost of operating their vehicle," Emily Castor, director of transportation policy at Lyft said. "The mileage reimbursement rate is mandated by the IRS at 54 cents a mile. They will be able to earn up to $10, but they won't be able to profit from their participation."

In other words, Lyft Carpool is about appealing to someone's sense of environmental ethics by reducing the number of cars on the road, rather than their sense of profit, the Verge says. It's also an attempt to revitalize the practice of "casual carpooling," aka "slugging," which first caught on in the U.S. in the 1970s, Castor said. Lyft Carpool drivers will need to be licensed drivers who are at least 18 years old, but will not have to acquire commercial driver's licenses to accept fares.