GA Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols: My day as a Lyft driver (Atlanta: fit in)

[Born 2 Roll]

Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols chronicled his day driving nine rides as an express driver for Lyft using a Chevy Bolt electric vehicle.

Georgia Public Service Commissioner: My day as a Lyft driver (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

[JayHey]

That was a good read, I've been riding Lyft for years and had no idea it had a "pit stop" feature. I've always just ended one ride and then called the next one when I had to make a quick stop.

I can't believe only one rider tipped him though. Tip your Lyft/Uber drivers, people.

[Brian_M]

That was one flat, boring, poorly edited piece. Like reading a grocery list...


I need eggs
and milk
and bread...




Beyond that, just because I'm A) old, B) only had a smartphone for a few months and C) haven't lived urban in decades ~ are those ride share things Really that utilized? I haven't seen much about them in a few years so I thought they were more or less burning out after a couple years fad. I've been in one once, but it was a towncar called by a hotel in NYC for a ride to the airport (not sure if the hotel called whatever company, or the driver/company was doing double duty).



Past that, sounds like a way to have a perpetually "free" car. 9 rides, that he fit in with other work, in one day yielded 1/5th of the weekly rent on the vehicle that had Zero other expenses. 5 days of that and the vehicle is paid for... wonder if they have some filter in place to keep people from just camping on the cars for months/years at a time.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Brian_M

That was one flat, boring, poorly edited piece. Like reading a grocery list...


I need eggs
and milk
and bread...




Beyond that, just because I'm A) old, B) only had a smartphone for a few months and C) haven't lived urban in decades ~ are those ride share things Really that utilized? I haven't seen much about them in a few years so I thought they were more or less burning out after a couple years fad. I've been in one once, but it was a towncar called by a hotel in NYC for a ride to the airport (not sure if the hotel called whatever company, or the driver/company was doing double duty).

Ridesharing (Lyft, Uber, etc.) does not appear to be just a fad, but appears to be a trend that is here to stay for the long term and continues to be very popular in urban areas... Ridesharing appears to be especially popular in larger urban areas (New York, Los Angeles, Bay Area, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, etc.), but also appears to be significantly utilized in a smaller urban area like Athens.

Originally Posted by Brian_M

Past that, sounds like a way to have a perpetually "free" car. 9 rides, that he fit in with other work, in one day yielded 1/5th of the weekly rent on the vehicle that had Zero other expenses. 5 days of that and the vehicle is paid for... wonder if they have some filter in place to keep people from just camping on the cars for months/years at a time.

From what I understand, I think that the Lyft "Express Drive" program (which is the program that Commissioner Echols was utilizing to obtain the Chevy Bolt for the day) requires drivers to perform at least so many rides for them to both stay in the program and to pay lower rental/leasing fees for their vehicles.

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by JayHey

That was a good read, I've been riding Lyft for years and had no idea it had a "pit stop" feature. I've always just ended one ride and then called the next one when I had to make a quick stop.

I can't believe only one rider tipped him though. Tip your Lyft/Uber drivers, people.

It's quite common for people not to tip. My nephew works for Uber Eats and maybe 10% of the people he delivers food to actually tip him!
I was shocked when I went on a delivery shift with him where he was picking up food and sometimes delivering it to apartment complexes with multiple floors and no elevators.
It's just incredible because anybody who delivers food to my home I always tip.

[Cdarocks]

Originally Posted by Brian_M

Beyond that, just because I'm A) old, B) only had a smartphone for a few months and C) haven't lived urban in decades ~ are those ride share things Really that utilized? I haven't seen much about them in a few years so I thought they were more or less burning out after a couple years fad. I've been in one once, but it was a towncar called by a hotel in NYC for a ride to the airport (not sure if the hotel called whatever company, or the driver/company was doing double duty).

I live in a small/medium sized town (sub 130k) and I see cars with illuminated Lyft and Uber signs all over the place.