Amongst cut-throat competition for ride-sharing in U.S, Lyft, the rival of Uber has found a philanthropic way to soar. Lyft has announced on its official blog that it will soon start a scheme where passengers will be able to round up the fare; while the difference will go to charity. This scheme is named- Round Up& Donate, wherein the collected donations will go to one organization only, according to sources. Lyft has also put forward its future plans of expanding this scheme to the local community organizations.
Sit For Something with Lyft ride-sharing App
According to this feature, when you opt for the option, your ride will be automatically rounded up to the nearest whole amount. The extra charge will be distributed in charity; which includes causes like LGBT equality, Veteran care and Environment, sources state. This feature will be located in the ‘Settings’ page of Lyft’s app. A catch in this scheme is that you cannot choose this option per ride; but you have to either opt in or opt out entirely, preferably at any time. Currently, only the announcement of this feature has been done; which will be available in a few weeks’ time. The blog mentions Lyft ride-sharing’s philanthropic mission by stating that their users sit on a changemaker. Moreover, Lyft app has put forward a statement in their blog –‘Sit For Something’, giving their customers a feel charitable vibe.
According to reports by TIME, as of August 2016; Lyft ride-sharing was carrying out about 14.6 million rides/month which was triple the number than a year before. Out of the two ride-hailing companies; Lyft is the smaller one with Uber being the dominant name and its value of about $60+ billion at present.While Lyft’s valuation remains around $5.5-6$6 billion, according to various reports.
Lyft’s Ride-sharing Competition with Uber
Despite being the smaller one in the ride-sharing race; Lyft’s drivers are reportedly happier, and they are also allowed to receive tips from customers, unlike Uber’s drivers. They also keep big pink moustaches on their vehicle’s grills, to show their pride of being a Lyft driver. Not only this, as of March 22; the ride-hailing company announced on its blog that they are celebrating $200+ in tips, with over 40 percent passengers liking their friendly drivers the most, according to a survey.
It seems as if the San Francisco company is taking the opportunity of Uber’s critical phase; to knock out its competition and come off with more goodwill among users. Uber Technologies is in a vulnerable phase right now; facing many issues from the CEO Travis Kalanick needing leadership help to searching for a second in-command. Also, the problems that Uber is facing; regarding sexual harassment at its offices, and its workplace culture, to the #DeleteUber campaign, have only worsened.
Lyft’s Philanthropic Move – RoundUp & Donate
At such times, Lyft’s charitable scheme makes all the more sense in this competition. But it is not the first ride-hailing company to do the same. RideAustin, at Austin in Texas; has a scheme on the similar grounds. It is also noteworthy that the U.S. centric ride-sharing company had announced in January for an expansion in around 100+ cities of the United States during this year.
As of now, Lyft ride-sharing app’s users can feel charitable by following Lyft’s mission for this soon to be active scheme – Take a seat to take a stand!!
