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As the coronavirus pandemic headed towards its global peak, ride-hailing companies took away the option to order more affordable shared rides that placed them in close contact with strangers. Starting next Monday, Lyft will pilot a modified shared experience that incentivizes longer wait times with faster routes at lower prices.
As part of the Google I/O brouhaha, Google is announcing a handful of changes related to Search and the Assistant, all of which should help you get to the information you need faster — albeit in slightly different ways. First, Search will soon support a so-called "HowTo" markup schema for web developers and video makers, which will allow for their content to appear as results in related how-to queries. Second, Google is expanding App Actions to more deeply integrate a few new types of services including health, finance, and ride-sharing into the Assistant.
Back in July, Uber announced that Venmo, PayPal's strange mobile payment service/social media feed combo, would be added as a payment method "in the coming weeks." It's been about seven weeks since then, and Venmo support has just gone live for both Uber and Uber Eats.
Southwest seems to be updating its Android app with increasing frequency. In March, the airline added, among other features, fingerprint login support. Now the Southwest Airlines app is getting another notable feature: it can schedule a Lyft to pick you up in time for your flight.
During times when a lot of people are requesting rides, Uber prices go up. It makes sense: higher fares incentivize drivers to be available to give rides during high-traffic times, which keeps customers happy. If you have more time than money, though, you'll probably be pleased to hear that the ridesharing company is testing an option to call a car for later at a lower cost.
Residents of San Francisco will soon see something new in the Uber app: the option to rent a car. Uber Rent will allow users to rent nearby cars from established car sharing service Getaround right from the Uber app, the companies announced today in a press release.
Commuters in the Evergreen State have a new option for getting around: Waze Carpool is now available in Washington. Waze says it chose Washington as its new location for the program largely because the state already has a large number of Waze users, with more than 375,000 in Seattle alone.
Lyft's been on a roll this year when it comes to adding assistive technologies to its ridesharing app. Back in April, it was still playing catch-up with Uber by adding new features to help the hard of hearing. Now it's working together with Aira, a high-tech assistive service for the visually impaired, to help make grabbing a ride easier for everyone.
You know Lyft, right? It's the ridesharing service not currently embroiled in half a dozen scandals of its own making. While that other company is trying to turn things around, Lyft is focused on more mundane but useful things. Lyft has today added seven new expense management partners, so you can more easily forward your receipts.
It might be a bit later than the competition, but this new feature certainly isn't unwanted. Now when you request a ride in Lyft, you might be shown alternative pickup locations to save you extra time. That way if your driver has to navigate a complex area to get to you, you can shave off some extra driving time with a short walk, and everyone gets where they're going faster.
Uber is in damage control mode following a string of negative stories in the press. It's gotten so bad that CEO Travis Kalanick has stepped down. So now, Uber is launching a program to appease its drivers called "180 Days of Change." The first change is tipping, which somehow Uber hadn't added in its eight years of existence.
Ridesharing service Lyft has long had a disadvantage compared to Uber; it wouldn't show you an estimate of your ride total ahead of time. Now, the company is testing that feature in select cities across the US. The total isn't set in stone, but it should be accurate barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Tipping with real money has been something of a sore topic with Uber, so why not just tip your driver with a digital sticker and some kind words? If giving a 5-star rating is never enough, Uber Compliments is just the thing for you. Compliments are essentially glorified, digital thank-you notes.
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Lyft, also known as the second most popular ridesharing service, announced today that they will be introducing the ability to add an extra stop to rides. This feature, which main competitor Uber does not currently offer, allows riders to add an additional destination prior to setting their pickup location in the app.
Google-owned navigation company Waze is expanding into a new area, metaphorically and physically. Last year Wave began testing a carpooling app called RideWith, which was only available in Israel. Ten months later, the company is ready to test out the experience in the US.
Lyft and Waze are both Android apps focused on getting you from one place to another. The former hooks you up with a driver who drops you off where you need to be. The latter is a navigation app that tells drivers how to get there. Now the two are becoming good friends.