# Lyft Question - Forgive me for being "dumb"



## LUXYRIDE (Jul 5, 2014)

Hi, All:

When I accept a fare when driving for Lyft, I only see the address I am picking up at. I don't see the destination they are requesting. Is there a way to see where I am bringing the customer before I accept the ride?

Thanks in advance, and I apologize in advance if the answer has been posted elsewhere -- I cannot find it.

THANK YOU!

Luxi
Providence


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

No, you can't see the destination before starting the ride. Some riders enter a destination address (which is a fairly new feature) but many don't. If they have entered the address it will show up when you start the ride and you just hit the navigate button. If they haven't then you will need to ask them and enter it manually yourself.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

LookyLou said:


> No, you can't see the destination before starting the ride. Some riders enter a destination address (which is a fairly new feature) but many don't. If they have entered the address it will show up when you start the ride and you just hit the navigate button. If they haven't then you will need to ask them and enter it manually yourself.


Hey Looky,

The new Rideshare outfit here in Sydney has some interesting differences. They advise the driver to contact the rider as soon as you get the job and advise them of your ETA and vehicle type and the driver asks their destination. If this is agreeable to both parties then BOOMSHAKA!! They've found a "friend on the way".

This asserts the optional nature of each job dispatch and I guess avoids some of the legal crap that's ongoing

There are other interesting differences that I'm learning


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Hey Looky,
> 
> The new Rideshare outfit here in Sydney has some interesting differences. They advise the driver to contact the rider as soon as you get the job and advise them of your ETA and vehicle type and the driver asks their destination. If this is agreeable to both parties then BOOMSHAKA!! They've found a "friend on the way".
> 
> ...


When I started driving a few months ago it was with Sidecar. Their recommended approach is opposite of UberX. Sidecar recommends calling the rider right after you accept the call to confirm pick up location and get and give any other pertinent info such as what business they are in front of etc. At that point you can also give them maybe a more accurate ETA etc. With Sidecar you already know the riders destination because they enter it before request and the whole ride info including price shows up to the driver as the request is coming in on the screen.

UberX says not to call at all unless absolutely necessary (rider doesn't show up or is taking too long) and that their data shows that calling will likely lower your ratings. They say riders don't want to be bothered with calls. They just want to hit the button, be picked up quick and be dropped off.

So now after starting to drive for UberX and Lyft in addition to Sidecar I kind of worked into a mix of all three and use the same procedure with all of them. Now I usually will only call ahead if the pick up is more than 5 minutes away or I sense anything that might be a little off. When I arrive at pick up location I will call if I don't see them right away. If I have called and they say they are on the way down and I wait more than 5 minutes I call again to let them know I can only wait another couple minutes without starting the ride.

Sounds like your new company is more along the Sidecar philosophy than the Uber gospel.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

QUESTION: Newbie Here. What internet forum do most LYFT drivers visit? I just noticed that UberPeople.net has only a small section dedicated to Lyft drivers. Thanks in advance.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I believe the rationale for not sharing destination is Uber/Lyft do not want us to pick and choose our riders based on fare value. 
The rider going 40 miles is treated the same as the rider looking for a 5 mile trip. 

Explaining this to passengers, I've gotten an interesting reaction from most: "Oh, so if you won't want to pick up the guy going 40 miles away"

I had to pause... "no, I want the 40 mile trip because it's valuable." They don't see the business the way we see the business. To me a 5 mile trip is an inconvenient aspect of the job - get it done and hope that 40 mile trip didn't ping while I was wasting my time with a 5 mile trip.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

DieselkW said:


> Explaining this to passengers, I've gotten an interesting reaction from most:
> 
> ... They don't see the business the way we see the business. To me a 5 mile trip is an inconvenient aspect of the job - get it done and hope that 40 mile trip didn't ping while I was wasting my time with a 5 mile trip.


I've encountered this all.the.time

Those folks taking short rides see that as less inconvenient for us, I can tell with the tone of voice they use when they say, 'oh, it's just down the street' or 'it's real close' - they are quite earnest in believing the short distance makes them 'no bother' and a desirable ride.

And that makes perfect sense if you are only thinking of the ride itself - a minimum fare is much more per mile than anything else. They don't understand the SRF lowering that minimum off the top.

It doesn't occur to them the pickup/wait time involved or the cost in that.

They usually don't know or really think about how we don't have the destination when we accept the request & they don't know we are expected to have high acceptance rates.

Now, some people might know all this & fail to consider how that translates into low wages (even before considering expenses). Once explained, some of them may care. Perhaps they'll care enough to tip on short rides or walk those short distances. Perhaps not.

But I've found that since everyone wants to know how much money I make & if I like my job & what hours I work & to tell them all the gory details... It makes it easy to work in how short rides lack profit.

For instance, I'll talk about how it may be difficult to get an uber in Chapel Hill because the University & Uber are going to provide free rides to students in that 3 mile radius of campus. Everyone says 'oh, because the drivers will be so busy with all those quick rides. That's gotta be lots of money'

I'll explain that no, I think drivers will avoid Chapel Hill because it's constant short rides that take forever to drive to & find the drunk college kid. I say, 'sure, I'd be busy. Busy making no money'. Then I express my preference for long rides from on one populated area to another.

Wait staff understand this analogy: 'it's like working at Waffle house - running your butt off for dollar bills; as opposed to working fine dining - handle a couple of tables for $100'

The key is to not talk about how short rides suck on short rides. That's not productive because it puts them on the defensive and that doesn't bring about behavior change. You talk about this with the $7 and up kinda rides. Then they feel good at the end that they aren't one of those minimum fare type of people & they might just tip when they do have short rides because that makes them feel like better people than 'those minimum fare people'. Or they might switch to lyft because then they can tip on the app.

If we really want to change consumer behavior, we have to educate people through conversations.

I talk to my teens & their friends about this type of thing and some of the college kids at church. These millennials are all passionate about social justice and fair wages and can be huge advocates for us drivers. Plus, they don't want these on-demand rides to disappear. They want both easy, app based rides & fair wages.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

Sorry - got a little carried away & rambling there. I'm a little tipsy


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## drivinindc (Aug 23, 2015)

grayspinner said:


> Sorry - got a little carried away & rambling there. I'm a little tipsy


Dude, that was the most intelligent post I've ever seen on the entire forum.

Drink more.


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## grayspinner (Sep 8, 2015)

drivinindc said:


> Dude, that was the most intelligent post I've ever seen on the entire forum.
> 
> Drink more.


Lol! Drinking brings out my philosophical side


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