San Francisco-based ride-hailing service Lyft has announced a new feature that allows riders to schedule trips in advance.
Lyft users can book trips 24 hours in advance with the latest Schedule Rides feature. Lyft offers its services in about 200 U.S. cities, but the company will initially test Schedule Rides in select cities, starting with San Francisco.
Lyft says that the new feature is a result of user feedback. The scheduling feature will offer extra peace of mind to riders who want to ensure a ride is available before important trips.
"Whether you have an early-morning flight and need to get to the airport or have a make-or-break business meeting cross-town, scheduled rides will get you out the door and off to your destination at your specified pickup time," says Lyft.
The company suggests that scheduling a trip is very easy. Users have to select a pickup location and tap on the clock icon that appears on the right. Users will have to set a desired time, which will then schedule the ride. Customers also have the option to cancel or change the scheduled ride 30 minutes before the requested time.
Tim Rathschmidt, a company spokesperson, says that the Lyft app will also give a fair estimate of the ride so that the passenger is aware of what cost to expect. Although Lyft users will be able to book rides 24 hours in advance, they will not be paired with drivers until a few minutes before the actual trip.
The new Lyft feature gives more options to passengers and at the same time also opens avenues for drivers to earn more. However, some drivers feel that scheduling rides can be complicated.
"The biggest difficulty with pre-scheduled rides for drivers is that they have to clear out their schedule ahead of time in order to make sure that they're available," said Harry Campbell, a driver for Lyft and Uber. "They will need to stay local on their regular on-demand rides leading up to the pre-scheduled ride."
It remains to be seen if Lyft's Schedule Rides feature helps the company to increase its market share in the competitive ride-hailing service market.
Lyft is available as a free download on Play Store and App Store.
