# Lyft in Los Angeles/LAX, Initial Thoughts



## ManOfTroy (Apr 23, 2017)

Having read most of the Uberpeople forum, I started driving Lyft only part time (just 3 weekend days so far) to get my feet wet in the LA/LAX area and see if it's a viable thing to do as a side gig.

For starters I got the TNC endorsement for my car insurance, at the cost of $20 a month extra than what I was paying. No candy, mints or water offered...just barf bags and some napkins in case needed. Charging cables and aux cable only for pax who are going to be riding long distance.

My first ride was a base fare 3 miles which I made $3, not to mention the pax dropped the pin in an adjacent strip mall and I had to call and then go find her. First LAX dropoff netted $8, pax was friendly and offered to tip but asked me if I had change for 20, I didn't and told him he could tip in the app and of course no tip given. 

First day of driving half of pax tipped, second day a third did and third day a fifth did. I guess fair to say at best 1/4 Lyft pax tips, and I am assuming most are normal Uber users who just used Lyft for shorter wait times. I drive very professionally, keep the car cooled and smelling nice and have gotten only 5 star ratings so far, so it's not because I am an anthole to pax. One pax I drove 10 minutes up a steep hill in Brentwood, which my phone lost reception along the way but I found her and used Waze to navigate her to the airport when the 405 was jammed up, just a $18 fare and no tip. 

Today I pretty much strictly did rides from the pigpen at LAX. Only thing that was positive was that the staging wait was never more than a couple of minutes (between 10 and 30 cars in the queue at the most). First pax was a hispanic lady with 3 kids (one of them prolly should have needed a car seat) they were pretty rowdy and a long drive just for $20 and no tip. Next two runs were to Venice ($10) and Westchester ($8) and the only decent fare was to Mar Vista for $23 at 50% prime time. All no tip. 

Seriously, why are people driving LAX for these prices? Any cabride over 10 minutes is $30+, Supershuttle is $20-25 per person...pretty much Uber and Lyft are doing it for around $15 (with $4 going to LAX, $3 going to Lyft/Uber and $8 going to driver). The long distance rides are clearly being cherry picked by veteran drivers. 

Whining aside, it definitely is a community service job to drive when it's not surging during the day. I will experiment with evenings and weekdays next, but so far everything that has been said is true. This is not viable for non surge/pt driving in LA area. I can only imagine other cities are worse (aside from SF and NYC).


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## Arb Watson (Apr 6, 2017)

Yep, the regular fares are a joke. I think the biggest mistake lyft makes is blowing money on recruiting new drivers instead of spending more money on decent bonuses to retain current drivers. Also they should create bonuses that drivers can actually reach based on their average number of trips they do on a weekly basis.


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

ManOfTroy said:


> Having read most of the Uberpeople forum, I started driving Lyft only part time (just 3 weekend days so far) to get my feet wet in the LA/LAX area and see if it's a viable thing to do as a side gig.
> 
> For starters I got the TNC endorsement for my car insurance, at the cost of $20 a month extra than what I was paying. No candy, mints or water offered...just barf bags and some napkins in case needed. Charging cables and aux cable only for pax who are going to be riding long distance.
> 
> ...


*Lyft is a a pyramid scheme disguised as a payday loan (you exchange the equity in your vehicle for cash up front, and they take a fee for this loan). *New drivers are peppered with bonuses, guarantees and given decent calls for a short amount of time, and then you'll be treated like a slave once they have you hooked on weekly "loans." You'll rarely get decent Primetime calls after that, and 80% of your calls will start coming from Lyft Line. You'll try and hold on for as long as you can -- believing it will get better, and that you'll eventually return to a prosperous state, but you won't. But then, out of nowhere, you'll have a good week (financially). This is Lyft's attempt at making you believe you were right -- that it will get better, so keep driving. And then things will quickly return to normal. And before you know it, you'll realize you've been making less than minimum-wage after taxes and expenses, that your vehicle no longer has a resale value, and that the only "independent" thing about driving for Lyft consists of logging in and out whenever you want. Well, unless you're dumb enough to try and earn a Power Driver Bonus, which is their way of scheduling you without being accused of being an employer. Also, you won't always get the closest passenger to you, you'll be kept at a strict hourly rate (varies based on City demand and the total number of calls coming in), your tips will be used against you in order to keep you at that hourly rate, and I could go on and on. *Click on my Trump Avatar and look at my Information/About me section for more detailed information.* My advice to you (and I'm being dead serious) is to get ANY other minimum-wage paying job -- you'll make more.

*Other quick facts:*

• Poor ratings are usually the result of a passenger who's looking to complain, that way they can get a free ride credit -- the $3.50 they paid for a Lyft Line was just too expensive. You can complain to Lyft's third-world email support (where templates are common but English as a first language is not), and they might remove the rating to pacify you, but you'd be wasting your breath. However, I digress. _The rating system is discriminatory and meant to mentally condition you into trying harder, even though your behavior was probably fine to begin in. Fact: a high rating does not equal better paying calls, more calls, etc. A 4.9 driver earns the same as a 4.6. Still having an emotional breakdown? Watch Season 3, Episode 1 of Black Mirror on Netflix. _

• Pink Power Zones are fictitious, and are meant to redistribute drivers. Every once in a while, you will get a Primetime rate from one of these areas in order to keep the illusion going. Lyft also has a history of creating Primetime calls from areas that are not illuminated in an effort to keep you spread out on a permanent basis (mental conditioning). In other words, everyone needs to stop driving to the middle of the city, where thousands of drivers are already waiting. People in the suburbs need your charity, too.

• Lyft's algorithm is emotional, and if it doesn't like a combination of things (your rating, acceptance rate, etc.), it will retaliate against you by letting you drive to a call, at which time it will cancel it without notifying you. If this happens, you need to email support, demand to be compensated for your time and gas (even if it was only 1 mile), and make sure to save a copy of the email for legal purposes.

• "You have lost contact with the Lyft system. Please relocate to an area with better network coverage," is a text message designed to relocate you. Basically, they need you in a different area, but can't tell you to drive somewhere else -- only employers can do that.

• Rating a passenger 1 star increases the overall amount of calls you receive. In other words, the system thinks you just had a bad experience, so it's trying to calm you down by throwing money at you. Once a 1 star rating is detected in their system, you'll be moved up in the queue to get the next available call.

• You can't be deactivated for skipping calls (letting it roll to another driver), but you can be deactivated for accepting a call and then cancelling it. Warnings for deactivation start when you cancel at least 15% of your accepted calls.

• If you want to skip calls without lowering your acceptance rating, close the Lyft app via your phones task manager as it's coming in. Wait 20 seconds and reopen the app. You'll get texts and emails telling you not to do this, but ignore them (kind of like how Lyft ignores your need to earn a living wage).

• You can increase your earnings by letting normal calls/Lyft Line calls roll to the next driver. If they don't accept the call because it's too far away, or because they're doing the same thing as you, Lyft might try and shoot the call back to you at a higher Primetime rate. If not, keep declining calls until they throw you one with a Primetime rate. Do this often to boost your earnings, and to train their algorithm into learning what kind of calls it needs to give you for mutual acceptance.

• Most passengers won't cancel, but the system will tell you they did. Behind the scenes, Lyft just found a closer driver. They'll also cancel a call automatically if they think you're not going fast enough, or if you're going in another direction (in an attempt to get the passenger to cancel so you can collect a cancellation fee).

• You are required to pick-up service animals, but can get around this law by cancelling the call before you hit "Arrive." Simply keep going and "use the restroom" (if asked). Still, it can be argued that a conversation was had, so have a *front and rear dash cam*. If you can afford it, I recommend getting a Lukas brand; good quality, fast delivery, and excellent support.

• If you're ever deactivated for being accused of being under the influence, etc., don't attempt to arbitrate (which generally goes in Lyft's favor because they're paying the arbiter), take them to small claims court and demand proof. A passenger's word is not proof, it's heresay. If there was no drug test given, collect your back wages.

If you have additional questions, please DM me, and be SAFE out there.


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## ManOfTroy (Apr 23, 2017)

Yes Trump Economics I had read your posts prior to driving and personally I didn't even use a bonus code to sign up because I wasn't going to do enough rides (200 or 300) to meet it and the power driver bonuses I estimated you need to work 5 hours a night, 5 times a week to even have a chance of meeting (which I had no intent to do). 

I had wrongly calculated that with few people taking taxis and supershuttles these days from LAX I could score some good rides and fares from LAX, since I live near there and a good number of rides originating from my area go there.

But netting $6 for around 40 minutes of work and no tip, not to mention driving 15 minutes back to the pigpen for a next spin at the roulette wheel really was discouraging. A "good" fare of $15 and no tip involved the risk of getting your car trashed by little kids and dealing with their screaming the whole trip, and then getting the hell back to the airport (all cities touching the 105 freeway, no good) for 12 miles and 15 minutes. They can improve things a little by implementing a $20 minimum of airport pickup rides ($4 to lax, $4 to uber/lyft and at least $12 to driver), which would reduce the number of folks going 5 miles or less.

As we speak, at 11PM the queue is full for the drivers trying to score a $50 fare but more likely will end up hurting their backs carrying heavy luggage for a a sub $10 run, after waiting 30 minutes. As the president would say "Sad!".


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## Woohaa (Jan 15, 2017)

Why are you driving LAX on the most busy night on base? I was there constantly shuttling back and forth from 10 PM until about 2 AM and PT was from 25 up to 250%. Except for one at 75%, I passed on all pings under 100%. My rides were between 100 and 250% and there's no reason why you couldn't have made the same choice. You just choose not to..


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## ManOfTroy (Apr 23, 2017)

Woohaa said:


> Why are you driving LAX on the most busy night on base? I was there constantly shuttling back and forth from 10 PM until about 2 AM and PT was from 25 up to 250%. Except for one at 75%, I passed on all pings under 100%. My rides were between 100 and 250% and there's no reason why you couldn't have made the same choice. You just choose not to..


Yes, I learned now. Next time I work Sundays at LAX, I will chill at the lot and wait for PT. I just didn't know the LAX driving at base would be so horrible.


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## Woohaa (Jan 15, 2017)

ManOfTroy said:


> Yes, I learned now. Next time I work Sundays at LAX, I will chill at the lot and wait for PT. I just didn't know the LAX driving at base would be so horrible.


Cool. But also just know that driving for base at any time is horrible and counter productive. "Just say no!"


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## ManOfTroy (Apr 23, 2017)

Woohaa said:


> Cool. But also just know that driving for base at any time is horrible and counter productive. "Just say no!"


I now realize most drivers during the day are newbs trying to meet their sign-up bonus requirements. I really feel a $7 minimum fare ($2 to tnc and $5 to driver) would be a start, rather than the current $3 something that is paid to the driver and $4 something fare. Most riders don't tip (uber or lyft) so this is a system that is just not viable. Riding taxis in Seoul Korea I thought the approximate $3 base fare was insanely cheap (5 years ago) but have that rate in Los Angeles in 2017 is ludicrous.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Just set a note on Sundays. LAX typically starts going at 10pm. If you take a ride before then, the ramp to get in is going to about a 10 min wait. Around 10:30-11 is when you get a decent time into the airport. It will start pting about 9:30-10 and stay above 100% for a few hours. If you take one long ride out, that's your night at LAX..no point going back since pt is done by the time you drop off.


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