Calif.-based ridesharing companies Sidecarand Lyft have announced Friday that they are officially eliminating the donation system and will be charging riders a minimum fare instead. The decision was made to motivate drivers which can in turn make the service more reliable.
According to the L.A Times, Sidecar has immediately implemented the "minimum fare policy Friday but Lyft will be rolling out the change in the next few weeks. Both companies confirmed that the policy will affect only the California riders and did not mention if it will be extended to other states as well.
The Ridesharing Program was designed to mainly help riders save money. The idea is similar to carpooling as people will drive less and save money due to reduced maintenance costs, gasoline savings, and for some, reduced insurance rates.
With ridesharing companies such as Sidecar and Lyft, riders have the option to pay less than the suggested amount depending on the service they received. However, they noticed that this "donation system" is often abused by riders with some of them paying "nothing" for the ride. Drivers are not allowed to complain but felt very demotivated with such experience thus they decide to drive less.
"Our drivers rely on us as a fun, interesting way to make some extra cash with their car," Sidecar said in a statement. "They've also told us loud and clear they would drive more frequently and take longer ride requests if they could reliably depend on fair payment every trip."
The "minimum fare policy" will now require riders to pay a certain fee or more (as tip). However, Lyft is planning a system called "Primetime Tips" in which riders will be required to add 25 percent on top of the minimum fare on certain times of the day. In case, they didn't like the ride, they can give poor rating to the driver and report the incident to the company.
The policy is aligned with another rideshare company Uber which charges a minimum fare to the riders.
