In an effort to enhance its safety measures, Lyft introduced Tuesday a brand new rider verification pilot program to assist drivers confirm riders’ identities and be certain that they’re certainly who they are saying they’re.
Starting in the present day, Lyft’s new program is rolling out to 9 markets, together with Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle. The firm declined to say when it will be launching in additional cities.
Riders will now see a verification badge subsequent to their profile, indicating that Lyft confirmed they’re utilizing their authorized identify. To guarantee riders are who they declare to be, Lyft makes use of third-party databases to cross-check private data, reminiscent of a rider’s authorized identify and telephone quantity, an organization spokesperson defined to TechCrunch. However, they didn’t say which third-party databases it makes use of.
If the identify on the rider’s profile isn’t their authorized identify, riders are prompted to enter it earlier than one other verification course of begins. If their particulars can’t be confirmed, they could have to add official authorities identification, reminiscent of a driver’s license, state ID, or passport. If a rider doesn’t have any of those paperwork, they will contact Lyft Support and supply another.
Additionally, when a passenger desires to request a journey for another person, they will use the “Change rider” possibility whereas requesting the journey. Any visitor passengers should have a Lyft account with a verification badge.
However, drivers can nonetheless select to just accept rides with out badges. Lyft warns on its web site that riders with out them could expertise “longer ETAs and pickup occasions.”
Lyft’s new program follows the launch of Uber’s initiative earlier this yr, which capabilities the identical approach. Like Lyft, Uber cross-references private data and shows a blue checkmark on the profiles of verified riders. It’s at present out there in 15 cities, together with Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and Miami.
Rideshare drivers are at all times in danger when accepting riders. However, in high-crime or denser cities like Detroit and Chicago, the dangers could also be even greater. Many Uber and Lyft drivers are carjacked, robbed, and killed yearly. For occasion, a Chicago driver suffered from a bullet wound throughout an tried carjacking in January. Less excessive examples are strangers flagging down drivers within the hopes of getting a free journey.
Sexual assaults are one other enormous drawback, which has led to a number of ride-sharing startups rising in recent times. In 2022, former Lyft driver Jillian Anderson co-founded a female-friendly driving app referred to as HERide to assist maintain feminine passengers and drivers protected. Lyft launched a Women+ Connect characteristic final yr, letting ladies and nonbinary drivers prioritize matches with ladies and nonbinary riders. Uber additionally has a ladies rider choice characteristic.
It’s at all times essential that each driver and passenger confirm profile photos and names. Before stepping into the car, riders ought to first test the license plate and automobile mannequin.
In addition to rider verification, there have been quite a few situations when Lyft has taken a web page from Uber’s playbook, which is its largest rival with 156 million month-to-month energetic platform shoppers. (Lyft, in the meantime, stories 27.3 million energetic riders.) More not too long ago, Lyft introduced pet-friendly rides on Monday, a characteristic Uber has had for 5 years. Lyft now prices an extra $4 for pets, whereas Uber prices between $3 to $5.
