It has been a minute since I’ve stayed true to my blog’s headline by talking about acting and/or my life. Please accept my most sincerest apologies. Life has been so extremely fun and enjoyable lately that I’ve been forgetting to blog about it. I’ve also neglected my thinking journal a.k.a. diary but that’s a discussion for another day. So, in case anyone hasn’t been following my personal Facebook page, I’ve gotten lost in the world of Lyft (www.Lyft.com).
What is Lyft?
It is a ridesharing app that has sometimes been compared to Uber (Sidecar also) that is quickly sweeping the nation. It officially launched here in Jacksonville, FL on April 24th and I’ve been driving for them ever since. They are now located in 60 cities and continually growing. See if it’s in your city by going here. If it’s not there yet, be sure to request it!
They are known for their friendly drivers and easily visible pink mustaches. Their motto is “Your friend with a car” and that is exactly what I have been to the past 96 people (sometimes couples) that I’ve had the pleasure of giving a ride too.
So the concept is pretty simple. If you need a ride anywhere, just download the app and request a Lyft.
For being a new customer, your first 50 rides (up to $25 each) are free for two weeks! Please visit www.lyft.com/invited/breezy33 to get started! That’s my personal link and it’ll give you an extra free ride. Plus, it’ll make me really happy if you use it of course. 🙂
What’s it like to be a Lyft passenger? It will be safe and a lot of fun! Lyft drivers are put through an extensive background check and are mentored by veteran drivers in the city to insure that they can follow traffic laws. You are also covered by a $1 million dollar insurance policy thanks to Lyft’s partner, MetLife.
If you go to Lyft online, you can sign up either using your Facebook account or your phone number. No money is exchanged between driver or passenger so when signing up, you will be prompted to enter a debit or credit card. When you request a lyft, it will contact the closest driver to you and send them a ping. They will have approximately 15 seconds to answer it. When they do, you will be able to see their name, their picture, and a picture of their car. It will also tell you how far away from you they are. If needed, you will be able to call your driver through a secure line. Or your driver might call you to verify your location and that you actually need a ride. While your driver is on their way to you, you will be able to see the route that they are taking. You will receive a text message once when they accept your request and second when they arrive at your location. Keep an eye out for the clean car with the pink mustache! Then it’s time to start the Lyft with a fist bump and you’re off!
At the end of your ride, it’s time to pay and rate your driver. Even though the first 50 rides (must be used within two weeks) are free, it will still show up in the app as if you are paying. Believe me when I say that you aren’t paying and you will see that later in your email when you get your receipt. But if your ride does goes over the $25 off promotion, then you will be charged the difference. You also get the chance to tip your driver by using the plus or minus signs when it comes time to pay. You can rate your driver on a scale from 1 to 5 stars. If you decide to rate them as anything less than 5, you can flag them for cleanliness, friendliness, navigation, and safety. There is also a section where you are encouraged to write a little bit about your experience and how you liked or didn’t like your driver. As a driver, we will get the pleasure of reading your comments when we receive our weekly summaries 🙂 so please, please let us know how we did!
Oh and after your ride is over, the number that was used to help you and your driver connect will no longer work. It’s just a little extra safety feature that Lyft added to protect both driver and passenger from unwanted calls later. If you and your driver decide to exchange personal numbers, well then that’s of course totally up to you both.
What’s it like to be a driver? It’s just as safe and fun as being a passenger! I believe that you have to be 23 years of age (I think in some places they’ve already converted over to a minimum age of 21) and own a 2000 or newer 4-door car. You will sign up for Lyft just as a passenger does. So you will also be able to have 50 free rides for the first two weeks. You will have to fill out some online paperwork and submit personal information about yourself for a background check. After everything has been cleared through headquarters, they will let you know when and how to request a mentor as your last and final step to becoming a driver.
Your mentor (if you live in Jacksonville, you could get me!) will double check your license, registration, insurance card, and license plate. They will do a thorough inspection of your car to make sure that it is a safe vehicle and will be comfortable for passengers. Then they will have you drive them around the block just to be certain of your ability to obey traffic laws. After that’s all over, you just have to wait to hear from headquarters again before you are given the big thumbs up to start picking up passengers. Oh and they make sure that you wait on them before you can drive because your app will not work properly until everything has been completed.
As a mentor, I highly recommend to all of my drivers that they request a Lyft at some point preferably before or in the beginning stages of driving for Lyft. This way they can see just how it is to be a passenger if they don’t know already.
Picking up a passenger for the first time can be a nerve-wrecking moment for some. I know that I was a little nervous because I had no idea who I was going to meet exactly. I saw their picture of course but that still didn’t tell me who they were.
So when you receive a “ping”, as I like to call it, you have about 15 seconds to accept it. You will see the passenger’s Facebook picture. If they’ve signed up with a phone number, there might not be any picture at all. You can call the passenger with the number provided to double-check their address since GPS isn’t always the most reliable thing. I like to call any passenger who is 15 minutes or more away from me just to make sure that they know that they are requesting right at that moment. I’ve had people try to request lyfts for days in advance and I saved myself some gas by calling ahead to verify. You can then select the navigation arrow right in the app and it will take you to your preferred GPS app. You can change this setting under your profile. I prefer to use Waze because it always keeps me up-to-date on changes in traffic or routes.
When you arrive at your passenger’s location and they get in your car, slide to start the Lyft. Greet them with a fist bump and ask where they are going. There is a feature that allows the passenger to put in their destination when they request you but not everyone does that. It also might be helpful to ask the passenger if they have a preferred route they’d like to take versus the route that your GPS might suggest. When you arrive at their destination, slide to stop the Lyft. And that’s it!
If you’d like to be a driver for Lyft, be sure to visit my link: http://lft.to/1hRCK3r or use your QR code reader for this picture:
The Lyft experience is truly a unique one. There are sooo many creative Lyfts out there from the BatLyft to the DiscoLyft to the HelloKittyLyft to the MagneticPoetryLyft to the ChalkboardLyft to the GhostbustersLyft to the CookieWarsLyft. The possibilities are endless. So that’s where creativity from you as the driver comes in to play. You can offer whatever unique experience that you would like to your passengers. I’m working on something myself 🙂 but I’ll write another blog post when I do. Hint: it will consist of maximum relaxation and I’m too excited to get started on it!
Now here’s one part about Lyft that I get REALLY excited about: the potential earnings. You earn money by driving, mentoring, and different bonuses. Without getting too personal and being too specific, let’s just say that I’ve been driving for Lyft for a little over a month now PART-TIME and I’ve made approximately $1500 gross. O_O Sure I’m an independent contractor so I have to take out my own taxes. But for a part-time job, you can’t deny that that isn’t a bad amount of money to make. Also, I’ve been taking the lazy route. By that I mean, I mostly stay at or near my home until I get a request. Some drivers go to where the most people who would use our service would be located. I haven’t quite done that yet. I also haven’t taken the after club shift yet either.
I set my own hours and they can be just as random as I like. This works perfectly for me because my schedule is never exactly the same from week to week or even day to day! Plus they’ve added this feature that lets you know approximately how much you can make per hour time slot. That has been very motivating when it comes to deciding which hours to work.
Every morning at about 8:30 am, I get a daily summary telling me the miles I drove, the amount of time I drove, the amount of time I was in driver mode, and the amount of money that I made from the day before. Every Tuesday morning, I receive a weekly summary that spans from the past Monday to Sunday (i.e. my last weekly summary was for May 19-25). You receive a direct deposit into your bank account anytime between Wednesday and Friday. I’m not sure if it’s because I bank with Bank of America or not, but I receive my direct deposit on Wednesday mornings.
I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting soooo many different people. My fellow actors out there can no doubt appreciate the benefit and joy of meeting people from all different walks of life. I’ve learned so much for future characters that I can portray and I’ve also made some great friends along the way. I’ve met people in all different job fields (I once learned all about energy trading on the way to the airport). I’ve met a very strong and inspirational breast cancer survivor. I’ve met young ladies from Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela who came here just to go to UNF. I once picked up a guy from his house and dropped him off at work then discovered that my next passenger was his girlfriend that I picked up from work and took back to their house. I picked up a lady one night from work to take her home only to pick her roommate up from work the very next night to take him home as well!
It has been such a small world since I’ve been driving for Lyft. I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂
So, please don’t forget to sign up and start your Lyft experience today by using my link: www.lyft.com/invited/breezy33 (or http://lft.to/1hRCK3r if you’re ready to drive)! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and ask.
See you out there!
~Breezy
A Founding Lyft Driver in Jacksonville, Florida
Breezy Sharp's Blog 