Imagine, you have an urgent meeting in the office and your car decides to die on the way. Or you need to be early for your class, but public transportation moves at a tortoise pace. So, what can you do? Is there an alternative to help you in such situations? Well, Yes! You now have the choice of hiring a car service through certain smartphone applications.
Lyft and Uber are two of the most popular transportation network companies. Uber was founded in 2009 and Lyft joined in 2012. Even though Lyft is younger, it is giving Uber a hard time in the market. There are lots of similarities between the two. However, Lyft and Uber sport some distinct differences such as:
- Price: Even though they proclaim competitive prices, Lyft is more expensive in some cities and routes than Uber. Uber is more pocket-friendly.
- Smartphone app experience: The user interface of both Uber and Lyft looks quite identical. But after using it, you can see some differences. Uber app has to be opened in the phone home-screen, or it just logs the driver out of the driver mode. It is really an irritating feature.
Lyft, on the other hand, has a built-in tipping feature in their app. Passengers can tip the drivers using it. However, in the Uber app, there is no such feature. So, if a passenger wants to tip the driver, it has to be in cash. That's why most of the time passengers don’t even tip the drivers.
- Availability: Uber is more popular than Lyft. In fact, Uber has its services in multiple countries of different continents. Lyft is not as popular as Uber. You can get Uber faster than Lyft cab.
- Waiting time for the vehicle: As Uber is more widely popular, they have more cars and drivers. This in turn results in quicker services. Thus, you can grab your car in minutes after booking. Meanwhile, as Lyft is not as popular as Uber, they have limited drivers and cars. So, you might have to wait for a while after booking your vehicle as your assigned driver may probably be busy catering to another passenger at the time.
- The reputation of the company: Over time, Uber has faced a lot of scandals. Many passengers have complained against the drivers. They have experienced misbehavior, scams and even sexual offenses. Lyft, on the other hand, does not have such ill-reputation as of yet.
Of course, it is a personal preference when it comes to choosing any kind of product and/or service. Everyone has different choices. In the case of Lyft and Uber too, it is up to you. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with.
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