Lyft Plus only Requests during Peak Times!
When you are a Lyft Plus Driver (with a car that can seat 6 passengers, 7 or more including the driver), you get both regular Lyft requests and Lyft Plus requests. A few weeks ago, Uber added the feature for UberXL drivers (6 passenger cars) to only accept UberXL request by choosing this option before logging onto Uber. Uber drivers can always log out to change their settings so they can do it whenever they want.
Last night, Lyft announced that Lyft Plus drivers can do something similar. Lyft will gauge the demand on the system and when it becomes very busy, Lyft Plus drivers will only receive Lyft Plus requests. The choice of receiving only Lyft Plus requests will be determined by the Lyft system and not the driver. Lyft noted that demand for Lyft Plus exceeded their expectations and they noticed that many Lyft Plus drivers were too busy with regular Lyft rides. Lyft probably saw a lot of unfulfilled Lyft Plus requests and trying to meet this demand by having Lyft Plus vehicles focus on Lyft Plus requests.
The other catch is that it is only being tested in these markets:
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Chicago
- Denver
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Nashville
- Northern New Jersey
- Orange County
- Phoenix
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Seattle
- Washington D.C.
This is a great addition to the app and I was surprised Lyft introduced this feature so soon after launching Lyft Plus. This will no doubt boost driver earnings as the system will automatically determine demand. I can see issues with the Lyft system not accurate gauging demand and still giving you regular Lyft requests when it is busy. I don’t see this as a huge problem as this feature should be an improvement. For Uber, the driver has to make that choice so the driver could be choosing the wrong choice and lose out on additional income from the missed UberX requests.
The release of this feature provides some solace to this weeks fare cuts (you can read more about it here: Detailed Analysis of this week Lyft Fare Cuts). Drivers should be able to maintain their earnings if they are Lyft Plus drivers with this feature.
You can read more about this new feature here: http://community.lyft.com/2014/09/26/lyft-plus-update-busiest-times-expect-plus-requests/
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