For non-commercial purposes, sure.

I doubt lyft is making much if anything on this. It's likely just a way to get users to start using the app. If they use it daily it's more likely they'll use the standard lyft service too

I have a theory that this service is to allure drivers more than consumers. Given that consumers had an option of using Lyft Line or Uber Pool for their daily commute anyways, Lyft Carpool don't add that much value other than perhaps cheaper fare. On the other hand, for the single drivers, this sounds like a good opportunity to make a side income without a huge impact on their lifestyle. Probably another 10 minutes of their lives picking up and dropping off a passenger, and they get paid a few hundred extra bucks a month.

I have never thought about being a Lyft/Uber driver, but I am seriously considering registering for Lyft Carpool, and who knows? If I like it, I might become a Lyft driver as a side gig.

I wonder if it will recommend a regular Lyft driver if there are no carpool matches.

Why don't we just skip these platform tie-ins and make an auction network for rides and deliveries?

That way you can see options like dollar & time estimations across multiple available services whenever you need to go somewhere.

Haha I said exactly this in my private slack to my ops network:

Overlay "uber" app where people can submit a bid for flat-fee plus tip % from point A to point B - the idea is that uber drivers could also login to a system to select A-B trips which are bid on

Driver says gimme a bid from a radius of me at point a to a radius of point b - when there is a march they connect

I said that on Feb/26

Yep. You could classify trip requests for delivering people, goods, alcohol, medical, or perishable goods. A multitude of apps for people with cars could push or pull from the network, so at any time a driver (with a compatible app) could see nearby deliveries and their bids. Business services and apps users could post bids for delivery real time.

I mean, drivers already run Lyft and Uber simultaneously, and are now used to the idea of ridesharing.

The radius idea was based on "give me a rider who wants to go from where I am now to near where I already need to go"

Eh, I see where you are coming from, but I wouldn't use it myself. The constant bidding and sequential worrying of whether I paid the "right" amount for the service would be too much stress for me. I would rather pay an extra couple of more bucks instead of stressing over the bidding itself.

So... create another new platform?

A network, not a platform. Being platform agnostic makes a difference.

Think of it as building an ad auction network for multiple websites and advertisers, rather than just trying to build an ad network for just your own website.

Wouldn't that require active participation of existing platforms? Seems like it'd be a tough sell.

Not really, considering the service base that makes up those platforms is trying to fragment off. They would be an easy first customer.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3057014/fed-up-with-uber-and-lyft...