# Lyft could overtake Uber?



## Urbanappalachian (Dec 11, 2016)

I see that Lyft is offering up to $750 sign up bonus incentive for new drivers. How do I get it? Is there a catch? I'd give it a shot. If Facebook was able to overtake Myspace, it's very possible that Lyft could do the same thing with their platform and perhaps better fares and treatment of their drivers would be the selling points for Lyft.

What's the name of the Lyft app for drivers, is it Become a Driver for Lyft?


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

The Lyft app is the Lyft app. Same app for drivers and riders, you just sign in differently.

With either company -- or any other company, for that matter -- when they offer incentives, they are structured so that they will almost never have to actually pay out money. Check the details of the offer carefully, and then check with drivers in your area (on the UP cities forums) to see if the requirements are even remotely achievable. Probably not.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't drive for Lyft in addition to Uber.


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## tkuber (Oct 29, 2016)

JimKE said:


> With either company -- or any other company, for that matter -- when they offer incentives, they are structured so that they will almost never have to actually pay out money. Check the details of the offer carefully, and then check with drivers in your area (on the UP cities forums) to see if the requirements are even remotely achievable. Probably not.


When I signed up for Lyft I was excited about the sign up bonus but it was dependent upon doing an order of magnitude more rides than I was given so I collected zero. Lyft is as deceitful as Uber.


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

tkuber said:


> When I signed up for Lyft I was excited about the sign up bonus but it was dependent upon doing an order of magnitude more rides than I was given so I collected zero. Lyft is as deceitful as Uber.


I'm not sure if it's by design, or just because they have no clue what driving is about -- but the Lyft promotions I have seen have been either off-the-charts unattainable, or just stupid.

The signup bonuses I've seen have been so silly I haven't even considered them (currently $300 if your referral does 150 Lyft rides in their first 30 days).

In Miami, we currently have Guaranteed Hourly Earnings! (Gasp -- he must be kidding!)

Nope, I'm not. If I drive _certain areas_, during _certain hours_, _completing one ride_ during an hour, being _in driver mode for 50 minutes_ of that hour, and have an _acceptance rate of 90% or higher_, I get...a guarantee of $12. That's $12 FARE...my payout is $8. Seriously.

Now, to be fair, if I work 4-5 AM certain mornings, it can go as high as $25 ($18.75 payout). If I'm up working those hours, I'd better be making a helluva lot MORE than $18.75!


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## dinkpiece (Jan 23, 2017)

Lyft's signup bonuses change often and vary wildly by city. When I signed up about 6 months ago, I had a pretty easy one: $500 if you give 50 rides in the first 30 days, which I easily achieved driving part-time.


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## Goodellsux (Sep 15, 2016)

dinkpiece said:


> Lyft's signup bonuses change often and vary wildly by city. When I signed up about 6 months ago, I had a pretty easy one: $500 if you give 50 rides in the first 30 days, which I easily achieved driving part-time.


Same here but in Boston last March. Promo was 100 rides in 30 days for $500. They gave me the bonus after 30 rides. I assume it was a glitch.


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## RussellP (Dec 9, 2016)

Lyft wont surpass Uber for the same reason that no other Facebook-like site will ever overtake Facebook. That reason is... these apps only work because everyone uses the same one. If there was 100 different facebooks, and you only have 1/100th of your friends on any one of them, then it would be kinda crappy. Samething goes for TNC... If drivers and passengers are all spread out over 100 rideshare apps then everyone has problems getting matched with drivers, long wait times, and generally poor resource utilization.

Now, if Uber decides to go out of business because they run out of money or Uber get's shutdown by government regulation, then Lyft could take over as a windfall, but if its the later case, then Lyft could get shutdown too.


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

RussellP said:


> Lyft wont surpass Uber for the same reason that no other Facebook-like site will ever overtake Facebook. That reason is... these apps only work because everyone uses the same one.


I'm not sure that is a great analogy. I remember when my daughters were all caught up in My Space. And then this upstart called Facebook appeared out of nowhere and took over.

I personally have seen a significant shift in my market from 4:1 Uber to almost 1:1 -- but I don't know if it's a blip or a real change. Two weeks ago, I made more on Lyft than Uber, last week only a little more Uber than Lyft, and today more Lyft.

The reason (I think) is Lyft _rider_ promotions. They're certainly not doing drivers any big favors, but if they develop more Lyft riders that's fixing their biggest weakness in the Miami market.


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## Navy Vet (Sep 29, 2016)

In pittsburgh LYFT sucks! Don't spend any money on advertising! People tell me they forgot all about LYFT! Other drivers tell me they get 15 to 1 uber over lyft


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## DelaJoe (Aug 11, 2015)

What will get a new/current rideshare company to surpass Uber?

They would need to offer the service at lower prices. At this point the drivers are already complaining about the prices and if the rates go any lower you will have a mass exit of drivers. Uber sets the rate in all markets and Lyft follows with identical rates. The driver requirements are identical. The vehicle requirements are identical.

Uber is international and operates in about 30 countries. Lyft only operates in the continental USA.

Uber is well funded.

Uber was first. You might see rideshare companies like Uber/Lyft but rarely do you see articles that talk about Lyft only.

Now maybe in the past week the trend was great for Lyft and the drivers as millions of people deleted the Uber app. But when those folks need a ride and they are in a market where Lyft does not operate or they can't get a ride on Lyft...they will once again come back to Uber. It takes about 5 minutes to download the App and setup the debit/credit card info.

We have already had some crazy stories involving Uber drivers including random killings and lots of bad publicity about surge pricing. Even with all of that and the latest #deleteuber it all seems to bounce right off and Uber continues to grow.


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

DelaJoe said:


> Now maybe in the past week the trend was great for Lyft and the drivers as millions of people deleted the Uber app.


The biggest number I've heard is 200,000 -- certainly not millions. And I think they have been mostly on the West Coast. I haven't talked to one single person in Miami who deleted the Uber app, and I haven't heard of any effect except in places like Portland and Seattle.

In fact, since the whole "intergalactic crisis" began, only one pax has even asked me about it -- and he just wanted to know if I'd noticed any difference.


> But when those folks need a ride and they are in a market where Lyft does not operate or they can't get a ride on Lyft...they will once again come back to Uber. It takes about 5 minutes to download the App and setup the debit/credit card info.


Agree. They're great at standing up for their "core principles" from the comfort of their chair in Starbucks. But when that becomes even slightly inconvenient, they'll reload the app.


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## Undermensch (Oct 21, 2015)

RussellP said:


> Lyft wont surpass Uber for the same reason that no other Facebook-like site will ever overtake Facebook. That reason is... these apps only work because everyone uses the same one. If there was 100 different facebooks, and you only have 1/100th of your friends on any one of them, then it would be kinda crappy. Samething goes for TNC... If drivers and passengers are all spread out over 100 rideshare apps then everyone has problems getting matched with drivers, long wait times, and generally poor resource utilization.
> 
> Now, if Uber decides to go out of business because they run out of money or Uber get's shutdown by government regulation, then Lyft could take over as a windfall, but if its the later case, then Lyft could get shutdown too.


And Facebook couldn't beat MySpace... except they did because they had a better focus on execution and they were better technologists.

Instagram was doing a handy job of giving Facebook a run for their money (and still is although Facebook bought them...).

Snapchat is all the college kids use. They don't use Facebook. So there is that...


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## nickd8775 (Jul 12, 2015)

DelaJoe said:


> What will get a new/current rideshare company to surpass Uber?
> 
> They would need to offer the service at lower prices. At this point the drivers are already complaining about the prices and if the rates go any lower you will have a mass exit of drivers. Uber sets the rate in all markets and Lyft follows with identical rates. The driver requirements are identical. The vehicle requirements are identical.
> 
> ...


A big part of #DeleteUber was getting people to not only delete the app, but also deactivate their account.


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## Greenghost2212 (Feb 7, 2017)

nickd8775 said:


> A big part of #DeleteUber was getting people to not only delete the app, but also deactivate their account.


Which hardly any one did.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

DelaJoe said:


> What will get a new/current rideshare company to surpass Uber?
> 
> They would need to offer the service at lower prices. At this point the drivers are already complaining about the prices and if the rates go any lower you will have a mass exit of drivers. Uber sets the rate in all markets and Lyft follows with identical rates.


The companies have to compete for both riders and drivers. The mass exit of drivers hurts their bottom line too because that means there are paying customers who cannot get rides who will pay for a taxi instead of an Uber because no Uber cars are available to get them in a timely manner. So lowering the rates can only go so far before equilibrium is reached.

I drive for both Uber and Lyft. Lyft offers 80% commission, while Uber only offers 75% commission. Lyft gives 100% of the cancel fee to the driver. I simply make more money per ride with Lyft than with Uber. The only reason I don't drive pure Lyft is because Lyft pings are rare compared to Uber pings. If Lyft can get there customer base up to the point where I have non-stop rides, then I essentially stop driving for Uber except during surge pricing. Customers don't want to pay surge pricing either. As long as Lyft continues to gain customer base, they will replace Uber unless Uber offers a higher commission to drivers, because Uber wait times (and effective pricing due to surge) will increase as rideshare drivers switch to Lyft.

Personally I think the Uber interface is better, easier to use, etc... but not easier enough to use to justify a 5% pay cut for fares and a 25% pay cut for cancel fees.

The competition between Uber and Lyft is good for both riders and drivers, in my opinion, at least in the long run. The biggest loser in competition is the rideshare companies themselves. One company running it all might mean the drivers make a good amount of money when the company first starts in a region. But once the company floods the market with drivers the equilibrium driver pay works out to be very low in the long run. Drivers are essentially competing with each other over pay and as long as there is someone willing to drive for less than someone else, they will replace the other drivers in the long run.


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