Lyft Is Testing Out Scheduled Rides

Ride-sharing services are (usually) a quick and cheap way to get from A to B, but sometimes, there's a catch: There's no ride nearby! To help solve the problem, Lyft is testing out scheduled ride-sharing to better offer customers peace of mind that when they need a lift the most, they'll be there. The test run is starting only in San Francisco, and it allows you to reserve a car for a time anywhere within a 24-hour period, for a tiny extra fee. You also have the option to update or cancel your ride up to 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment at no extra charge.

While the service is starting with just the one city, if it proves to be successful, Lyft plans on expanding it this summer. Sounds like a smart idea, right? One time, I had to leave for the airport around four in the morning, and I was so worried I wouldn't be able to secure a ride. The ability to schedule a ride in advance certainly would have come in handy then.

While Lyft will still be focusing their efforts more so on offering ride-sharing services on-demand, giving passengers the option to better plan ahead certainly presents another layer of convenience. Now, not only can we request a lift at the last minute (which is sometimes unavoidable and very often the entire point), we can also tailor our transportation to our specific needs.

There's another ride-sharing service in New York called Gett which has offered this feature for over a year, and rumor has it Uber is throwing the idea around, too. Time will tell if scheduled ride-sharing will become more commonplace, and it honestly wouldn't surprise me if it did. Sure, the on-demand aspect of ride-sharing services really comes in handy; but when you need to get to the airport or maybe have an important business meeting to attend, you just want that added security.

Images: splitshire.com/Pexels