Lyft Driver Destination Turns Commuters Into Cabbies

With the Uber controversy still raging, rival ride-sharing service Lyft believes more granular control over when, exactly, you have strangers in your car will not only add more cash to more drivers' pockets, but cut down on commute congestion too. Building on Lyft Line, which began rolling out – controversially – in September, Driver Destination allows Lyft drivers to only give rides on routes they would previously have driven alone, such as on their way into work or when running to the store.

According to Lyft, not only could it add $400 to drivers' pockets each month, but it might make the overall commute more palatable by cutting down the number of cars squeezed onto the highways.

In contrast to the regular Lyft, which works as a taxi replacement, Lyft Line takes a destination and then tries to locate another potential fare who is also wanting to go somewhere on that route. The result for the passenger is a split cost of travel.

Driver Destination does the same sort of thing, but for the driver instead. Much in the way that the Lyft Line passenger can set their destination and be paired with someone else going their way, the Lyft driver inputs their intended location too, such as their place of work.

The system then attempts to match them with another person going the same way, or at least a similar location with minimal deviations.

Lyft says it expects Driver Destination to be popular with regular commuters, who might normally be traveling on their own but who could in fact make a little cash every day by allowing someone else to hop into the passenger seat.

According to the company, the system was the goal Lyft originally had in mind when it launched Lyft Line (and indeed Zimride before it). Lyft Driver Destination launches in San Francisco and Los Angeles today.

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