Doing that requires far more people to get comfortable sharing small spaces with strangers. Profiles are a step in that direction.

EDIT: Either I missed it the first time, or they added a big chunk to the article about Line. Regardless, the branding angle is far secondary to Line.

From what I understand and vaguely remember from visits as a kid was that it wasn't uncommon to pay for a ride for someone on their way to or from work. The economy was so bad that cab drivers were frequently from all kinds of background, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, etc but all needed and appreciated the ability to make some extra untaxed income.

Which is yet another case of capitalism replacing what was a common courtesy with a business transaction. I have very conflicting feelings about this.

A courtesy, yes. But a common one?

(I'm actually genuinely interested - was this common at some point in history?)

The idea is that by picking up people, you can drive in the HOV lanes.

The challenge with the free/common courtesy model is that casual carpools are just not getting enough cars off the road. Lyft is solving the two biggest challenges I see in carpooling 1) convenience of having the app route you to people who are close enough to your route and can be dropped off without adding too much time and 2) making you feel more comfortable picking up strangers. Adding money to the equation to encourage more drivers is fine with me as it reduces car traffic and pollution.

To be clear, I'm not saying it's a bad thing - it's just that my alarm bells go off every time I see a business creeping into what used to be a money-free zone, so I thought I'd raise that concern.

I see so many possibilities around adding a social dimension to ride-sharing services. What if the app would in fact try to preferably connect you with a rider who has mutual Facebook friends with you? What if the drivers and passengers could check a box indicating they were single and would like to use rides as a way to have an informal, inexpensive, casual date? What about matching people based on common business interests (looking for an employee or employer)? People-to-people contact during a ride finally makes social "real", unlike Facebooking while sitting in front of your laptop alone in your apartment.

The potential is really immense. One day, Uber and other ride-sharing companies being valued so high won't look so ridiculous.

I like the idea of profiles for a personalized taxi service, but not because of the possibilities for social connections.

You're right though. It's a small group. These features are for a very small percent of the total user base. Neat though.

My grandfather hitchhiked to school when he was young. He lived in rural Minnesota and that was the only way to get around, he didn't do it to be social.

Now that most people have other options, the only people still doing it are the people who want the social experience, and it's not many.

I'm not saying there is no potential social appeal to rideshare whatsoever, but like parent, I'm guessing it's slim.

Based on the people I see hitchhiking and the people I know who have, I have to believe that it's often (maybe usually) still motivated by means rather than a desire for a social experience.

It already features profiles and when you select a ride, you can chose whether you don't really want to talk (bla), don't mind talking (bla bla) or really want to talk (bla bla bla) during the ride.

In my anecdotal experience using the service for 1h-2h30 rides, people mostly chat all ride long. I've met really interesting people, although I've yet to keep a lasting connection with anyone.

Of course the first motivation to use the service is financial, but a lot of people like the social aspect of it too, as opposed to a train where you're just not supposed to talk to people. Anyway, they have been quite successful until now in Europe at least.

I wish airlines would develop that feature when selecting seats. Just simply allowing people to choose one of those options and have it show up in the seat map when subsequent passengers are selecting their seats would be quite interesting.

I can't remember the exact quote, but it's something like the longer your site is live, the likelier it is to have turned into a dating site.

Once you're chatting, dating is not that far anyway :)

Or is there a special relationship exemption for Lyft? Or maybe I misunderstand the FB changes.

I would do this.

This feels like a feature from 2010 when every interaction was destined to become social. Social shopping, social search, social everything... until it wasn't.

I love Lyft and use it all the time. But it's there to get me to a destination. I enjoy chatting with the driver, but that's incidental. I hope they don't mess it up by forcing it to be more social than it need be -- let's call it "pulling a Google+."

Only if i had just moved to the area or was in another country so i could talk to the driver - but this is no different than if i were in a traditional cab. But otherwise i agree, the point of the most of these lyft/uber/cab rides is the destination, anything else is just fluff.

Instead of sharing personal info, why can't we know when the driver started driving for Uber or Lyft? Some have just started and have 5.0 ratings even though they may have only completed a handful of rides...

Also, my Facebook Friends aren't always my actual friends. I might not want to get into a long conversation about Aunt Bridget with my Lyft/Uber driver - I don't know what their feelings about her are, and they don't know what mine are. I might hate her guts, and they might be her best friend.

I hope the profiles are limited in what they ask so users aren't turned off of the service because they feel that they have to share too many personal details.

I don't see the introduction of profiles hindering Lyft's progress as some have suggested, but I don't see this as being a huge leap forward to gain ground on Uber either. If anything with more information about my driver the greater obligation and guilt I will feel to tip them more. I am now emotionally invested in my driver's wellbeing. This is an obligation that I don't feel when choosing Uber, but I can still engage in the same conversations with the driver should the mood strike.

Choosing someone who you 'get along with' is a code phrase for excluding everybody different.

The point is that if there are things the driver and passenger have to talk about, they will more easily come to light if there is a driver profile available.

Or did you just assume that this was a way for you as the rider to choose a driver?