Lyft primetime cap raised?

macchiato · Jan 24, 2016

Last night a driving buddy sent me this picture. Lyft has capped primetime rates at 200% from what I remember, but last night LA hit 250%.

Has Lyft capped rates anywhere else in the country?

ATL2SD · Jan 24, 2016

1st thing I said. Saw 300% here in San Diego last night.

soupergloo · Jan 25, 2016

I saw 300% in SF this week.

scrurbscrud · Jan 25, 2016

Was never aware there was a cap myself. Saw 3.5-4x not too far back. Even winced in pax sympathy for a couple Plus rides I did.

JJS · Jan 25, 2016

Seattle has been capped at 200 as long as I have been driving. Haven't seen it go higher yet...Lyft nee s s to avoid the sh!t Uber does.

scrurbscrud · Jan 25, 2016

JJS said:
Seattle has been capped at 200 as long as I have been driving. Haven't seen it go higher yet...Lyft nee s s to avoid the sh!t Uber does.

If it wasn't for those busy days when there is exceptionally high surge/PT, I wouldn't bother doing this crap. I have zero issues with as HIGH as they can push it. Zero. Those are the times when it has to be high. There's a lot more risk driving on St. Patty's day for example. Streets are filled with drunken Irish people. Cars too. Drivers who run these kinds of shifts need to be well compensated for doing it. 10X is FINE with me. Higher is even better.

Lyft might think it's being kinder by not pushing it, but they are not doing drivers any favors in doing so.

ClevelandUberRider · Jan 25, 2016

soupergloo said:
I saw 300% in SF this week.

Prime Time is working!

andaas · Jan 25, 2016

It doesn't happen often, but I have seen 250% on rare occasion here in DFW in 2015. Typically 200% is the highest here.

Agent99 · Jan 26, 2016

JJS said:
Seattle has been capped at 200 as long as I have been driving. Haven't seen it go higher yet...Lyft nee s s to avoid the sh!t Uber does.

I saw Lyft capping their Seattle surge on New Years Eve (actually New Years Day) at 3x normal rates while Uber capped at 8.9x. The predictable result was that there were often no Lyft drivers available at all between 12:15am and 2:30am. Drivers switched to Uber and made more money. Many Lyft passengers were forced to order an Uber when no Lyft cars were available. Who cares if the rate cap is lower if no driver is available?

Rate caps don't work well when there are extreme supply and demand imbalances. They just cause shortages. It's basic economics, really. Lyft does a poor job enticing drivers with surge (prime time) rates since their P/T zones often are so small and you never know if you got a P/T ride until the ride is over. I like Lyft for various reasons but their P/T "system" needs improvement. It appears Lyft has raised their cap to 4.0x (same as +300% P/T) in some markets. That's a start.

ClevelandUberRider · Jan 26, 2016

Agent99 said:
I saw Lyft capping their Seattle surge on New Years Eve (actually New Years Day) at 3x normal rates while Uber capped at 8.9x. The predictable result was that there were often no Lyft drivers available at all between 12:15am and 2:30am. Drivers switched to Uber and made more money. Many Lyft passengers were forced to order an Uber when no Lyft cars were available. Who cares if the rate cap is lower if no driver is available?

Rate caps don't work well when there are extreme supply and demand imbalances. They just cause shortages. It's basic economics, really. Lyft does a poor job enticing drivers with surge (prime time) rates since their P/T zones often are so small and you never know if you got a P/T ride until the ride is over. I like Lyft for various reasons but their P/T "system" needs improvement. It appears Lyft has raised their cap to 4.0x (same as +300% P/T) in some markets. That's a start.

Good luck driving and drive safe.

macchiato · Jan 31, 2016

LA got to 300% last night (1/30-31).

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Agent99 · Jan 31, 2016

macchiato said:
LA got to 300% last night (1/30-31). View attachment 25936

+3.00 P/T is the same as a 4.0x surge with Uber.

sicky · Feb 1, 2016

I have not even looked in denver. I always saw 200% max and turned it off since the areas were so small I wouldn't know if I would get a prime time or not. I still do Uber only during peak hours. I will take another look next weekend though. This month surges have been weak anyway.

sidewazzz · Feb 1, 2016

I believe Lyft and Uber have changed the Surge and Primetime algorithms to pop up with much less demand than prior to rate cuts. I'd imagine this is to kinda keep the upset drivers somewhat happy.

DudeCity · Feb 1, 2016

If LYFT show the P/T rate wt the ping for certain they will have more

drivers available most of the drivers OFF LYFT after 1230am not worth

playing their stupid guessing game.

sicky · Feb 1, 2016

sidewazzz said:
I believe Lyft and Uber have changed the Surge and Primetime algorithms to pop up with much less demand than prior to rate cuts. I'd imagine this is to kinda keep the upset drivers somewhat happy.

Not seeing more surges here in Denver, but we have WAY too many drivers right now, and January is always a slow month.

Agent99 · Feb 1, 2016

sicky said:
Not seeing more surges here in Denver, but we have WAY too many drivers right now, and January is always a slow month.

Not even in the middle of snow storms and difficult driving conditions?

sicky · Feb 1, 2016

Agent99 said:
Not even in the middle of snow storms and difficult driving conditions?

It was a little higher last night (saturday), but it's been snowing all day today and no surges.

ClevelandUberRider · Feb 1, 2016

macchiato said:
LA got to 300% last night (1/30-31). View attachment 25936

Not bad.

osii · Feb 1, 2016

at local rates it takes almost 200% to get us to cab rates. No one should be complaining.

Lyft primetime cap raised?

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