Lyft Partners With Security Company ADT For New Safety Features

Ridesharing company Lyft has announced a new partnership with the security company ADT to offer new features on its platform. Under the partnership, Lyft will launch a pilot early next year that'll allow customers in select markets to directly contact ADT if there's a security issue. The ADT-powered feature will be available in Lyft's mobile app; the company indicates it will be the first of multiple new features.

ADT is a security company best known for its home security products. Under this new Lyft partnership, the company will power a security feature in the Lyft app that'll allow riders to contact the company's monitoring centers for help, including with alerting authorities if needed. The security company will have 'detailed incident information' as part of the feature.

The new in-app option will be tested as a pilot project in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, and select other unnamed markets sometime early next year. The partnership represents the latest security-minded feature Lyft has introduced in the app, addressing safety concerns some critics have expressed about ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber.

Lyft hasn't specified when it will roll out the new security feature in other markets, assuming it chooses to retain the option beyond the pilot test. As well, the company hasn't provided specific details on how this feature will work — whether the rider will be able to type out their concern or if it'll involve a voice call.

The ridesharing company indicates that it plans to develop multiple new security features under its partnership with ADT, but it hasn't detailed what other offerings users can expect. Presumably the company will share more detail about the new in-app feature in 2020 once it arrives in the selected markets.