Skift Travel News Blog

Lyft launched an on-time pick-up promise when riders schedule an airport trip, and if the driver is 10 minutes or more late, the company pledges to shell out $100 in Lyft cash to passengers if they ended up needing to use another service such as Uber or a taxi.

Screengrabs of the Lyft app. Source: Lyft

“To help ensure all of your scheduled rides will be there when you need them, drivers can accept the ride in advance and they earn more on scheduled rides than standard rides,” Lyft stated in its announcement. “Scheduled rides are also the first priority to be matched to a driver. If you’re not picked up-on time for a scheduled ride to the airport, you’ll automatically get Lyft Cash credit.”

Lyft pledged to pay passengers $20 in Lyft cash if their scheduled ride arrives more than 10 minutes late; $50 if they still had not been match with a driver 10 minutes after the scheduled pickup, and an additional $50 if the driver was a no-show 10 minutes after the scheduled meet-up and passengers needed to take another service. They can submit a receipt that the took an Uber or another service by tapping help in the Lyft app.

Of course, you can only use the Lyft cash credit on a Lyft ride — but it’s the passenger’s compensation when forced to use another service when the Lyft driver is tardy or doesn’t show up.

Many U.S. customers can choose between taking Lyft, Uber, other rideshare services, and taxis so Lyft hopes the on-time pickup promise will sway passenger decisions.

Lyft also introduced a service where customers can schedule rides up to 30 days ahead and can lock in that price.

Ride-sharing firm Lyft has appointed David Risher, a former Amazon and Microsoft senior exec, as its new CEO.

Lyft’s co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer are stepping down from their respective roles as CEO and president, and moving into non-executive roles, the company revealed on Tuesday.

Risher was employee number 37 at Amazon, and was the retailing giant’s first head of product and head of U.S. retail. He was also a general manager at Microsoft. He has been a member of Lyft’s board of directors since July 2021.

Lyft’s business division recently reported that managed bookings have grown 60 percent year-over-year, following the return of large events and conferences. For the 2022 fourth quarter it posted revenue of $1.2 billion, 21 percent up on the same quarter in 2021.

Ride-sharing and car-pooling are expected to increase this year after the pandemic all but wiped out the concept. Now as more companies look to cut carbon emissions, car-pooling is seen as effective way to travel more sustainably. Rival BlaBlaCar last month announced it was buying Klaxit to further expand.

“Logan and I were told we were crazy to think people would share a ride in another person’s car,” said Lyft’s Zimmer. “Over a decade later, Lyft is creating economic opportunity, building a sustainable future, and helping people make meaningful connections — with the support of millions of riders and drivers. I can’t wait for what’s next, and look forward to working with our deeply-capable successor, David, to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.”

Meanwhile, Hertz’s chief financial officer effective Kenny Cheung is leaving the company. He will be replaced by chief accounting officer Alexandra Brooks on an interim basis, the company said on Tuesday.

Lyft is introducing a new sustainability dashboard for companies in the Lyft Business Portal.

Lyft Business is the app’s travel management solution that streamlines ground transportation for organizations. Business customers starting Wednesday can access rideshare greenhouse gas emissions data for their company on the platform.

That information reflects the usage of Lyft Business solutions on the organizational level and can be broken down by several metrics.

Specifically, the dashboard will feature the following:

1. Total Emissions (MTCO2e): This includes the volume of carbon emissions emitted across all business rides under the company in a particular time frame, measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
2. Emissions by Fuel Type: Business partners can filter for ride emission data by gas, hybrid, or electric vehicles (EVs).
3. Emissions by Program: Business partners can also filter for emission by different company rideshare initiatives. This includes different office locations, departments or customer transportation programs.
4. Downloadable Data: Data from the portal can be downloaded in CSV format for companies’ sustainability analyses or reporting.

This new addition follows previous moves by the rideshare company to increase the platform’s integration of sustainability measures. Back in 2020, Lyft made a commitment to transition to 100% EVs by the end of 2030.

“The first step in helping our business partners achieve their climate goals is arming them with data to see their carbon footprint on Lyft,” said Lyft Director of Sustainability Paul Augustine, in its company blog announcing the dashboard debut. “The second is helping them reduce their emissions by transitioning to low-carbon forms of transportation.”

Scope 3 emissions, which capture effects from indirect activities from assets not owned or controlled by an organization, are increasingly becoming a part of companies’ ESG [environmental, social, and governance] reporting. Lyft’s new reporting tool for GHG emissions from employee rides contributes to helping its business partners more accurately track their impact.