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 sure that they’re certainly who they are saying they’re.
Beginning at the moment, Lyft’s new program is rolling out to 9 markets, together with Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle. The corporate 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 make sure riders are who they declare to be, Lyft makes use of third-party databases to cross-check private info, similar to a rider’s authorized identify and telephone quantity, an organization spokesperson defined to TechCrunch. Nevertheless, they didn’t say which third-party databases it makes use of.
If the identify on the rider’s profile will not be 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 might have to add official authorities identification, similar to a driver’s license, state ID or passport. If a rider doesn’t have any of those paperwork, they’ll contact Lyft Help and supply another.
Moreover, when a passenger desires to request a experience for another person, they’ll use the “Change rider” choice whereas requesting the journey. Any visitor passengers will need to have a Lyft account with a verification badge.
Nevertheless, drivers can nonetheless select to simply accept rides with out badges. Lyft warns on its web site that riders with out them could expertise “longer ETAs and pickup times.”
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 info and shows a blue checkmark on the profiles of verified riders. It’s at the moment accessible in 15 cities, together with Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Miami.
Rideshare drivers are at all times in danger when accepting riders. Nevertheless, 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. As an illustration, a Chicago driver suffered a gunshot wound to the chest throughout an tried carjacking in January. Much less excessive examples are strangers flagging down drivers within the hopes of getting a free experience.
Sexual assaults are one other large drawback, which has led to a number of ridesharing startups rising in recent times. In 2022, former Lyft driver Jillian Anderson cofounded a female-friendly driving app referred to as HERide to assist hold feminine passengers and drivers protected. Lyft launched a Ladies+ Join characteristic final yr, letting ladies and nonbinary drivers prioritize matches with ladies and nonbinary riders. Uber additionally has a ladies rider desire characteristic.
It’s at all times vital that each driver and passenger confirm profile footage and names. Earlier than moving into the automobile, riders ought to first verify the license plate and automobile mannequin.
Along with rider verification, there have been quite a few cases when Lyft has taken a web page from Uber’s playbook, which is its greatest rival with 156 million month-to-month energetic platform customers. (Lyft, in the meantime, stories 27.3 million energetic riders.) Extra lately, Lyft introduced pet-friendly rides on Monday, a characteristic Uber has had for 5 years. Lyft now fees a further $4 for pets, whereas Uber fees between $3 to $5.
