Lyft is rolling out a monthly membership to address app's "most hated feature," CEO says
CBSN
Rideshare company Lyft this week said it's giving customers a "crazy" way to avoid a common feature of ride haling apps that can turn many riders off — surge pricing.
Lyft CEO John David Risher announced a monthly subscription service called "Price Lock" that puts a cap on prices for specific routes at selected times. It effectively lets customers avoid having to pay jacked-up prices during periods of peak demand, which is the subject of many rider complaints. It's aimed at commuters who travel by car from, say, their homes to an office at roughly the same time on a daily basis.
"Many of you have probably experienced it at one time or another, and I'm willing to bet you didn't care for it one bit," Risher said of surge pricing during Lyft's second quarter earnings call Wednesday. "It's probably rideshare's most hated feature," he added before noting that "thanks to an enormous effort on the part of our team, building on the great momentum we've seen with drivers, the number of rides impacted by Primetime has decreased dramatically."
