The LYFT carpooling application presented a new feature on Thursday that allows “favorite” drivers for riders and choose to drive with them when available.
This decision comes one day after the competitor of Lyft, Uber, launched a service that allows female passengers Choose drivers who are women. Uber plans to control the program next week in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. Lyft offers a similar feature, called Women + Connect.
Here’s how Lyft’s latest service works. The runners who appreciated their Lyft experience with a particular pilot can mark them as a “favorite” in the application so that the company can try to match them with the same pilot for future trips.
“After any big walk, simply press the favorite this driver. Then, for your future planned rides, we will prioritize the connection with your favorites whenever possible,” explains Lyft in a statement on the new feature.
Lyft
Lyft has said that new feature strengthens the company’s objective to promote human connection, such as a means by which drivers and runners can establish significant relationships. This also gives runners more control over their experience, if they know that they will be twinned with a driver who includes their preferences concerning temperature, conversation and other options.
There are also advantages for drivers, said Lyft. The function gives “favorite” drivers priority access to certain customers who require rides. “This is another step towards the provision of additional profits opportunities and the establishment of sustainable relations with cyclists,” the company said in a press release.
Lyft said it is deploying new feature in the coming weeks and that it will be widely available in the United States and Canada by the end of August.